All 3 Uses of

efface
in
The Brothers Karamazov

Karamazov, who had been frantically jealous of every one, collapsed, so to speak, and effaced himself at once before this first lover.†
Chpt 12

effaced = removed completely from recognition or memory

But my answer to that is, that, if he was planning such a murder in accordance with his letter, he certainly would not have quarreled even with a shopman, and probably would not have gone into the tavern at all, because a person plotting such a crime seeks quiet and retirement, seeks to efface himself, to avoid being seen and heard, and that not from calculation, but from instinct.
Chpt 12 *

efface = make himself inconspicuous or unimportant

"I will efface myself!" he said, in a rush of almost hysterical ecstasy.†
Chpt 8

Definitions:

(1) (efface as in: efface the memory)
remove completely from recognition or memory -- sometimes by erasing
(2) (efface as in: efface herself)
to make oneself inconspicuous or unimportant
(3) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
meaning too rare to warrant focus:

More rare, specialized senses include:
- ballet -- a way of standing at an angle that hides part of the body from view
- medicine -- describing the cervix as getting shorter, softer, and thinner during labor