The DELETE method of the HTTP protocol is used to request the server to delete a specified resource. The client sends a DELETE request to the server with the resource URI as the request URL. The server then deletes the resource and responds with a status code indicating the success or failure of the operation. This method is often used to remove a file or a record from a database. It is considered a safe and idempotent operation, meaning that multiple requests to delete the same resource will have the same result as a single request.