Which is the correct spelling for a word meaning 'to erase or wipe out'?

Correct — C. Expunge means to erase or strike out: a remark expunged from the record.

Build it as ex + pung + e. The u and the n are both sounded, as in plunge, and the final e keeps the g soft. Expunge → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Exponge — Exponge puts o where the word has u, as if it were built on sponge. The vowel is u, as in pungent.
• (b)
  Expung — Expung drops the final e. Without it nothing softens the g, and expung would read like lung, not like plunge.
• (d)
  Expouge — Expouge loses the n and turns u into ou. The n is sounded: expunge rhymes with plunge.

Expunge comes from Latin expungere, built from ex- and pungere, to prick. The same root gives pungent and puncture, and all three carry pun-.

The ending follows a spelling pattern: a final soft g sound is spelt -ge or -dge, as in plunge, sponge and bridge.

Key facts

• Expunge: to erase or strike out, especially from a record.
• Expunge, pungent and puncture share the Latin verb pungere, to prick.
• A final soft g sound is spelt -ge or -dge: plunge, sponge, bridge.

Common traps

• Picking exponge because sponge also suggests wiping clean
• Dropping the final e, which leaves nothing to soften the g

No directly related past PYQ was found.