🗑️ A document cutter 💻 A data eraser

shredder

1 4.2

A program or tool that completely deletes files so they cannot be recovered

noun
/ˈʃrɛdər/

Specialized

: programa de borrado seguro

She used a file shredder to permanently erase sensitive documents from her computer.

Examples

This software acts as a secure shredder, ensuring that deleted files cannot be recovered.
He stepped back into the office, clicked on a computer file, and dragged it to a box labeled Shredder.

Fiction book (2001)
A pretty young woman was demonstrating, of all things, a shredder.

Fiction book (1994)
That is a good point; it is really the embedded energy in the computer or shredder.

Blog text (21)
" Gail, the way I read this was the input to run the computer or shredder."

Blog text (21)
I remember the day I grabbed a pile of sermons on CD and put them in the shredder.

Blog text (32)
To protect your privacy, it is important to use a reliable data shredder to delete old records.

Synonyms

wiper

vsshredder

Specialized

1 7.2

A program that deletes files so they cannot be recovered

is more technical, naming software programs versus hardware tools

Compounds

nerve-shredder

Informal

8.9

An event like an exam that makes you very anxious or stressed

How Secure

to wipe

Specialized

308 3.6

shredder

Specialized

1 4.2

nul

Specialized

9.9

Surface Forms

shredder singular

shredders plural

Morphology

shredder = shred (semi-transparent) = shred + er

Metaphorical extension from the physical action of shredding to destructive deletion of data; the relation is clear but context-specific.

Etymology

Shredder is also used for computers and keeps the same idea: shred ('to tear into small pieces') plus -er. A digital shredder destroys files by turning them into unreadable bits, just like a paper shredder does with documents.