purge

[purj]

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verb (used with object), purged, purg·ing.

to rid of whatever is impure or undesirable; cleanse; purify.

to rid, clear, or free (usually followed by of or from): to purge a political party of disloyal members.

to clear of imputed guilt or ritual uncleanliness.

to clear away or wipe out legally (an offense, accusation, etc.) by atonement or other suitable action.

to remove by cleansing or purifying (often followed by away, off, or out).

to clear or empty (the bowels) by causing evacuation.

to cause evacuation of the bowels of (a person).

to put to death or otherwise eliminate (undesirable or unwanted members) from a political organization, government, nation, etc.

Metallurgy.

to drive off (undesirable gases) from a furnace or stove.
to free (a furnace or stove) of undesirable gases.

verb (used without object), purged, purg·ing.

to become cleansed or purified.

to undergo or cause purging of the bowels.

noun

the act or process of purging.

the removal or elimination of members of a political organization, government, nation, etc., who are considered disloyal or otherwise undesirable.

something that purges, as a purgative medicine or dose.

Origin of purge

1250–1300; (v.) Middle English purgen < Old French purg(i)er < Latin pūrgāre to cleanse; (noun) Middle English < Old French, derivative of the v.

Related formspurge·a·ble, adjectivepurg·er, nounun·purge·a·ble, adjectiveun·purged, adjective

Synonyms for purge

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8. oust, liquidate, extirpate.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for purge

coup, liquidation, extermination, expulsion, suppression, evacuation, forgive, dismiss, expel, prevent, liquidate, expunge, absolve, remove, abolish, erase, exterminate, oust, cleanse, exonerate

Examples from the Web for purge

Contemporary Examples of purge

“I thought my reward would be that I could purge my relationship with people in the religious community,” she says.
Is the Christian Music Industry Softening on Gays?
Matthew Paul Turner
October 19, 2014
After the initial, gag-inducing swallows, I waited for the purge.
Spirit Tripping With Colombian Shamans
Chris Allbritton
August 24, 2014
He simply happened to be in one of those sections of Red Army intelligence which in some purge or other ceased to exist.
Iran’s Top Spy Is the Modern-Day Karla, John Le Carré’s Villainous Mastermind
Michael Weiss
July 2, 2014
Third, the current purge is leaving North Korea even more isolated.
North Korean Blood Feud is ‘Richard III’ with Nukes
Gordon G. Chang
December 13, 2013
In true ultra-nationalist form, the party hopes to one day purge the country of all people that are not Greek, as they define it.
Golden Dawn Continues Its Message of Hate
Ilana Glazer
May 3, 2013

Historical Examples of purge

He did his part to purge the veins of men of the subtle poisons which dwarf them.
Shelley, Godwin and Their Circle
H. N. Brailsford
Why, my Masters, it can not as much as purge its own channels.
The Book of Khalid
Ameen Rihani
To purge away the crime appears to him in the light of a duty, whoever may be the criminal.
Euthyphro
Plato
He had been a month in Nantes, sent thither to purge the body politic.
The Historical Nights' Entertainment
Rafael Sabatini
I dyd it but onely to subdue my flesshe, and to purge my reynes.
Shakespeare Jest-Books;
Unknown

British Dictionary definitions for purge

purge

verb

(tr) to rid (something) of (impure or undesirable elements)

(tr) to rid (a state, political party, etc) of (dissident or troublesome people)

(tr)

to empty (the bowels) by evacuation of faeces
to cause (a person) to evacuate his bowels

to clear (a person) of a charge
to free (oneself) of guilt, as by atonementto purge contempt

(intr) to be cleansed or purified

noun

the act or process of purging

the elimination of opponents or dissidents from a state, political party, etc

a purgative drug or agent; cathartic

Derived Formspurger, noun

Word Origin for purge

C14: from Old French purger, from Latin pūrgāre to purify

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for purge

c.1300, "clear of a charge or suspicion;" late 14c., "cleanse, clear, purify," from Anglo-French purger, Old French purgier "wash, clean; refine, purify" morally or physically (12c., Modern French purger) and directly from Latin purgare "cleanse, make clean; purify," especially of the body, "free from what is superfluous; remove, clear away," figuratively "refute, justify, vindicate" (also source of Spanish purgar, Italian purgare), from Old Latin purigare, from purus "pure" (see pure) + root of agere "to drive, make" (see act (n.)). Related: Purged; purging.

1560s, "that which purges," from purge (v.). Meaning "a purgative, an act of purging" is from 1590s. Political sense from 1730. Earliest sense in English was the now-obsolete one "examination in a legal court" (mid-15c.).

purge in Medicine

purge

[pûrj]

v.

To cause evacuation of the bowels.

n.

The act or process of purging.

Something that purges, especially a medicinal purgative.