Meaning & use
eraser
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A small object used to remove pencil marks from paper.
Grammar: Countable: you can have one eraser or several erasers.
Patterns
- use an eraser
- rub something out with an eraser
Can I borrow your eraser? I made a mistake.
She used an eraser to clean up the drawing.
The eraser on my pencil is worn down.
nouncountable
A piece of rubber or felt used to clean a blackboard or whiteboard.
Grammar: Often called a 'blackboard eraser' to distinguish it from a pencil eraser.
Patterns
- clean the board with an eraser
- blackboard eraser
The teacher wiped the board with a felt eraser.
Please clap the erasers outside to remove the chalk dust.
Word forms
| plural | erasers |
|---|
Common combinations
- pencil eraser
- I need a new pencil eraser because mine is gone.
- board eraser
- The board eraser is on the ledge below the whiteboard.
- use an eraser
- Use an eraser to fix that mistake.
- rub out with an eraser
- He rubbed out the wrong answer with an eraser.
Synonyms and how they differ
- rubber
- British English for a pencil eraser; in American English 'rubber' usually means a condom.
Word family
Commonly confused: eraser or erasable?
eraser vs erasable
Erasable is an adjective meaning 'can be erased'; an eraser is the object.
Practice
I made a mistake in my notebook. Can you pass me the ___?
Choose one answer.
An eraser is used to remove pencil marks. A ruler measures, a sharpener sharpens pencils, and glue sticks things together.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “eraser”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.