Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Delete \De*lete"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Deleted}; p. pr. & vb.
   n. {Deleting}.] [L. deletus, p. p. of delere to destroy. Cf.
   1st {Dele}.]
   To blot out; to erase; to expunge; to dele; to omit.

         I have, therefore, . . . inserted eleven stanzas which
         do not appear in Sir Walter Scott's version, and have
         deleted eight.                           --Aytoun.

Source : WordNet®

delete
     v 1: remove or make invisible; "Please delete my name from your
          list" [syn: {cancel}]
     2: wipe out magnetically recorded information [syn: {erase}]
        [ant: {record}]
     3: cut or eliminate; "she edited the juiciest scenes" [syn: {edit},
         {blue-pencil}]

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

delete
     
        1.  (Or "erase") To make a file
        inaccessible.
     
        Usually this operation only deletes information from the
        tables the {file system} uses to locate named files; the
        file's contents still exist on {disk} and can sometimes be
        recovered by scanning the whole disk for strings which are
        known to have been in the file.  Files created subsequently on
        the same disk are quite likely to reuse the same blocks and
        thus overwrite the deleted file's data permanently.
     
        2.  The {control character} with {ASCII} code 127.
        Usually entering this character from the keyboard deletes the
        last character typed from the {input buffer}.  Sadly there is
        great confusion between {operating systems} and keyboard
        manufacturers as to whether this function should be assigned
        to the delete or {backspace} key/character.
     
        The choice of code 127 (binary 1111111) is not arbitrary but
        dates back to the use of {paper tape} for input.  The delete
        key rewound the tape by one character and punched out all
        seven holes, thus obliterating whatever character was there
        before.  The tape reading software ignored any delete
        characters in the input.
     
        (1996-12-01)