efface

efface (vt)

1. To erase (as anything impressed or inscribed upon a surface); to render illegible or indiscernible.

2. To cause to disappear as if by rubbbing out or striking out.

3. (reflexive) To make oneself inobtrusive as if due to modesty or diffidence.
Always the shy violet, Edna effaced herself in front of her sister, of whom she was in awe.

4. (medicine) Of the cervix during pregnancy, to thin and stretch in preparation for labor.