🚗 A window cleaner 🧹 A machine cleaner 💾 A data eraser 🔌 A sliding contact

wiper

1 7.2

A program that deletes files so they cannot be recovered

noun
/ˈwaɪpər/

Specialized

: programa de borrado seguro

To ensure data security, the company used a wiper that permanently erased all sensitive information from the hard drives.
drive wiper
wiper tool

Examples

Ebola is called a "slate wiper" for humans. There is no known cure. Once infected, the virus kills its host in 7 days...

Fiction book (1993)
The IT department implemented a wiper program to protect against unauthorized data recovery after disposing of old computers.
For his digital privacy, he installed a wiper that effectively deleted all traces of his online activities.

Synonyms

formatter

vswiper

Specialized

1 5.3

A program that sets up a storage device by erasing data and making a file system

securely removes data so it cannot be recovered rather than only creating a file system

shredder

vswiper

Specialized

1 4.2

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

focuses on secure deletion of whole storage media rather than individual files

Antonyms

recovery

60 3.2

Getting back things that were lost or stolen

preservation

Specialized

1 4.8

Keeping digital files safe and able to be used for a long time, for example students' theses

Compounds

windshield wiper

15 2.3

A moving blade that clears rain or snow from a car's front window

wiper blade

3 2.4

A long thin strip of rubber that wipes a car windshield

windscreen wiper

1 2.3

A moving rubber blade on a car that clears rain or snow from the front window

wiper motor

1 3.7

A small electric machine that moves the blades that clean a car's front window

wiper arm

Specialized

1 6.8

A metal arm that moves to touch different electrical contacts in a control like a volume knob

How Damaging

wiper

Specialized

1 7.2

malware

Specialized

43 4.3

corrupter

Specialized

8.8

virus

Specialized

108 3.3

fault

54 3.2

bug

Specialized

110 2.8

to glitch

Specialized

3 5.8

Surface Forms

wiper singular

wipers plural

Morphology

wiper = wipe (transparent) = wipe + er

A computing 'wiper' (tool that erases data) is a direct metaphorical/instrumental extension of 'wipe' meaning 'remove', which is readily inferable.

Etymology

Wiper comes from the verb wipe, which means 'to remove by rubbing' or 'to clean away'. A computer wiper 'wipes' data by removing or writing over files so they cannot be recovered, which is why it is called a 'wiper'.