cleanse
Americanverb (used with object)
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cleanses,
present (3rd person singular)
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cleansed,
past participle, past
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cleansing
present participle
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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)
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cleanses,
present (3rd person singular)
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cleansed,
past participle, past
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cleansing
present participle
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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recleanseverb (used with object)
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cleansableadjective
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uncleansableadjective
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uncleansedadjective
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well-cleansedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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cleansesimple
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cleansessimple
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have cleansedperfect
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has cleansedperfect
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am cleansingprogressive
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are cleansingprogressive
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is cleansingprogressive
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have been cleansingperfect progressive
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has been cleansingperfect progressive
Past
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cleansedsimple
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had cleansedperfect
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was cleansingprogressive
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were cleansingprogressive
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had been cleansingperfect progressive
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.
See Examples For:
Hindus believe completing the circuit carries great spiritual significance and helps cleanse sins.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
“No power, no justification, and no time can cleanse this great tragedy.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 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
Lopez: You need to cleanse every once in a while.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 2025
The abrasive Atlantic winds and the salt of the sea would eventually cleanse my soul.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
When Tayshia Adams, a TV host and self-professed skincare junkie, double cleanses in the shower, she uses a vitamin C-based exfoliating wash then a hydrating cleanser.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
It was just out of earshot from Oz nodding along to musings on how “sleep is when the brain cleanses itself.”
From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2026
After a warm and ice-cold shower, he cleanses his face and rubs a frozen cucumber over it, which he says will reduce puffiness, acne and brighten his skin.
From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2026
However, parasite cleanses typically promise to purge the body of intestinal parasites such as tapeworms.
From Salon ● May 18, 2025
The more water we drink, the more we sweat, and sweating cleanses our bodies of impurities.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
Maybe it’s because he was lucky enough to have his footprint cleansed a bit.
From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026
She said “demand for filtration is skyrocketing,” with cleansed stormwater “the biggest source of new water supply.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
Will the doors of perception ever be cleansed?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 15, 2026
“That cleansed the space of a lot of weaker companies,” he says.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2025
He wiped his face with his hands and felt the lesions fade, as if they had been cleansed away.
From "Messenger" by Lois Lowry
He added that some of the money will also go towards fixing more potholes and further cleansing in the city centre.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
Among other capabilities, the new site will be the company’s global center for skin care and cleansing and have a “human performance lab” that will enable on-site testing of ingestibles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
Earlier work by the team showed that corona discharges could be a significant source of these atmospheric cleansing agents within forest canopies.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 21, 2026
Blankfein added that the long period without a financial crisis cleansing process meant ”you accumulate tinder on the floor of the forest and eventually a spark will come.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 26, 2026
“Well, of all people, it’s Mary Poppins! You’re just in time to share our sand-bath. Nothing like a sand-bath for cleansing the fins and the tail.”
From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers
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.
