What does deleting a pointer mean?

Question

Is deleting a pointer same as freeing a pointer (that allocates the memory)?

Answer 1

You can't "delete" a pointer variable

Sure you can ;-)

int** p = new int*(new int(42));
delete *p;
delete p; // <--- deletes a pointer

But seriously, delete should really be called delete_what_the_following_pointer_points_to.

Answer 2

Deleting a pointer (or deleting what it points to, alternatively) means

delete p;
delete[] p; // for arrays

p was allocated prior to that statement like

p = new type;

It may also refer to using other ways of dynamic memory management, like free

free(p);

which was previously allocated using malloc or calloc

p = malloc(size);

The latter is more often referred to as "freeing", while the former is more often called "deleting". delete is used for classes with a destructor since delete will call the destructor in addition to freeing the memory. free (and malloc, calloc etc) is used for basic types, but in C++ new and delete can be used for them likewise, so there isn't much reason to use malloc in C++, except for compatibility reasons.