cleanse
Americanverb (used with object)
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to make clean.
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to remove by or as if by cleaning.
to cleanse sin from the soul.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to remove dirt, filth, etc, from
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to remove guilt from
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to remove a group of people from (an area) by means of ethnic cleansing
Synonym Usage
See clean.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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well-cleansedadjective
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uncleansedadjective
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cleansableadjective
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uncleansableadjective
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recleanseverb (used with object)
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have cleansedperfect
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has cleansedperfect 3rd person singular
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have been cleansingperfect progressive
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are cleansingprogressive
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has been cleansingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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cleansessingular 3rd person
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is cleansingprogressive 3rd person singular
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am cleansingprogressive 1st person singular
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cleansingparticiple
Past
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had cleansedperfect
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had been cleansingperfect progressive
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were cleansingprogressive plural
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cleansedsimple
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was cleansingprogressive singular
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cleansedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of cleanse
before 900; Middle English clensen, Old English clǣnsian, equivalent to clǣne clean + -si- v. suffix + -an infinitive suffix
Vocabulary lists containing cleanse
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The author also contends that recessions don’t cleanse or restructure economies, the way wildfires clear forests of their dead wood.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026
“No power, no justification, and no time can cleanse this great tragedy.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 13, 2026
The idea of a tube up my tuchus didn’t scare me, nor did the notorious prep of drinking a foul-tasting liquid to cleanse your intestinal tract.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 3, 2026
"For the rivers within us flow with ease, fears washed away, cleanse and purify. Come to peace with our tears and discover what it means to be alive," she says.
From BBC • Jan. 9, 2026
“The hair” — she pointed to my head — “must be evened. And I think braided would be best. Let us cleanse her first.”
From "The Ugly One" by Leanne Statland Ellis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
