21.11.3 Hungry Delete Feature in C

When the hungry-delete feature is enabled (indicated by `/h' or `/ah' in the mode line after the mode name), a single <DEL> command deletes all preceding whitespace, not just one space. To turn this feature on or off, use C-c C-d:

C-c C-d

Toggle the hungry-delete feature (c-toggle-hungry-state). With a prefix argument, this command turns the hungry-delete feature on if the argument is positive, and off if it is negative.

C-c C-t

Toggle the auto-newline and hungry-delete features, both at once (c-toggle-auto-hungry-state).

The variable c-hungry-delete-key controls whether the hungry-delete feature is enabled.