Etymology
de- + face
Pronunciation
Rhymes: -eɪs
Verb
Infinitive to deface
Third person singular
defaces
Simple past
defaced
Past participle
defaced
Present participle
defacing
to deface (third-person singular simple present defaces, present participle defacing, simple past and past participle defaced)
1. To damage something in a visible or conspicuous manner.
* 1869: George Eliot, The Legend of Jubal
That wondrous frame where melody began / Lay as a tomb defaced that no eye cared to scan.
2. To void or devalue; to nullify or degrade the face value.
He defaced the I.O.U. notes by scrawling “void” over them.
* 1776: Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations
One-and-twenty worn and defaced shillings, however, were considered as equivalent to a guinea, which perhaps, indeed, was worn and defaced too, but seldom so much so.
[edit] Translations
* Finnish: turmella, vahingoittaa
Synonyms
* (damage in a conspicuous way): disfigure, mar, obliterate, scar, vandalize
* (degrade the face value): cancel, devalue, nullify, void
Derived terms
* defacement