expurgate

American  

[ek-sper-geyt] / ˈɛk spərˌgeɪt /

verb (used with object)

expurgated, expurgating

1. to amend by removing words, passages, etc., deemed offensive or objectionable.

   Most children read an expurgated version of Grimms' fairy tales.

   Synonyms:

   bowdlerize, purge, censor, excise, delete

2. to purge or cleanse of moral offensiveness.

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expurgate British  

/ ɛksˈpɜːɡətərɪ, ˈɛkspəˌɡeɪt, ɛkˌspɜːɡəˈtɔːrɪəl, -trɪ /

verb

1. (tr) to amend (a book, text, etc) by removing (obscene or offensive sections)

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expurgate Cultural  

1. To clean up, remove impurities. An expurgated edition of a book has had offensive words or descriptions changed or removed.

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Other Word Forms

• expurgation noun
• expurgator noun
• expurgatory adjective
• unexpurgated adjective

Etymology

Origin of expurgate

1615–25; < Latin expurgātus, past participle of expurgāre to clean out. See ex- ¹, purge, -ate ¹

Example Sentences

But seven years after McCormick’s death, at 85, here comes his book, in a modest and expurgated form, under the title “Biography of a Phantom: A Robert Johnson Blues Odyssey.”

From New York Times

He found original versions of manuscripts and restored expurgated words and entire passages which had been subject to censorship because editors, publishers and reviewers deemed them to be obscene or tasteless.

From New York Times

And with the exception of that expurgated Benchley quote, its advertising eschewed pull quotes, focusing instead on the show’s popularity: “Hundreds have seen ‘Abie’ three times or more.

From New York Times

Lindo: There is a tradition of black soldiers being marginalized at best, expurgated at worst.

From Seattle Times

Every time one of his children made a sound that was recognizably southern, Bull would expurgate that sound from his child’s tongue on the spot.

From Literature