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
Related Words
See clean.
Other Word Forms
- cleansable adjective
- recleanse verb (used with object)
- uncleansable adjective
- uncleansed adjective
- well-cleansed adjective
Etymology
Origin of cleanse
before 900; Middle English clensen, Old English clǣnsian, equivalent to clǣne clean + -si- v. suffix + -an infinitive suffix
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.
She feels cleansed by the sea and the fog that shrouds the world’s ugliness, and believes there is happiness to be salvaged from the wreckage of her past.
When asked about two cleansing balms she has bought - one from a high-end brand and the other a low-priced equivalent - she says: "It's the same to me, I can't tell the difference."
From BBC
I reclined in the exam chair as Shalom parted my hair into sections and cleansed the area with an antiseptic liquid.
From Los Angeles Times
You can then launch 2026 on a cleansing note, free from longstanding guilt or upset.
From MarketWatch
It added that preventing displaced populations from returning and demolishing homes amounted to ethnic cleansing.
From Barron's
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.
