String#delete

str.delete([other_str]+) -> string

The delete method removes characters from a string based on the character sets you provide. Unlike gsub which works with patterns, delete operates on literal characters—making it faster for simple character removal tasks.

Syntax

string.delete(character_set [, other_sets]) → new_string

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
character_set	String	Required	The first set of characters to remove
other_sets	String	Optional	Additional character sets to remove

Character sets work like a subtraction: delete("aeiou") removes all vowels, while delete("a-z", "0-9") removes all lowercase letters except digits.

Examples

Basic character removal

"hello world".delete("lo")
# => "he wrd"

"password123".delete("0-9")
# => "password"

Multiple character sets

# Remove all vowels AND all consonants
"hello".delete("aeiou", "b-z")
# => "" (everything removed)

# Remove whitespace and punctuation
"Hello, World!  ".delete(" ", ",", "!")
# => "HelloWorld"

Common Patterns

Sanitizing user input

def sanitize_username(input)
  input.delete("^a-zA-Z0-9_")
end

sanitize_username("user@name#123!")
# => "username123"

Removing unwanted characters

phone = "(555) 123-4567"
phone.delete("()- ")
# => "5551234567"

# Remove all non-digit characters
phone.delete("^0-9")
# => "5551234567"

Cleaning file content

content = "Line1\r\nLine2\r\nLine3"
content.delete("\r\n")
# => "Line1Line2Line3"

See Also

• String#sub
• String#gsub!
• String#replace