ASL STEM

Definition

(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.

Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/delete?s=t