The verb erase has 3 senses (first 1 from tagged texts)
1. (5) erase, wipe out -- (remove from memory or existence; "The Turks erased the Armenians in 1915")
2. erase, rub out, score out, efface, wipe off -- (remove by or as if by rubbing or erasing; "Please erase the formula on the blackboard--it is wrong!")
3. erase, delete -- (wipe out magnetically recorded information)