EXPUNGE

To intentionally destroy or erase files or records. Typically this refers to criminal matters where, upon petition to a court a defendant may have their criminal record destroyed from court files so that it will appear as if no case ever existed. This is usually only the case for misdemeanors or juvenile crimes. In the course of business, this term may refer to a process of conservation, such as a company may expunge its old records to conserve space. To blot out; to efface designedly; to obliterate; to strike out wholly. Webster. See CANCEL.