Deface \De*face"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Defaced; p. pr. & vb. n. Defacing.]

[OE. defacen to disfigure, efface, OF. desfacier; L. dis- + facies face. See Face, and cf. Efface.]

1. To destroy or mar the face or external appearance of; to disfigure; to injure, spoil, or mar, by effacing or obliterating important features or portions of; as, to deface a monument; to deface an edifice; to deface writing; to deface a note, deed, or bond; to deface a record. ``This high face defaced.'' --Emerson.

So by false learning is good sense defaced. --Pope.

2. [Cf. F. d['e]faire.]

To destroy; to make null. [Obs.]

[Profane scoffing] doth . . . deface the reverence of religion. --Bacon.

For all his power was utterly defaste [defaced]. --Spenser.

Syn: See Efface.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)