purging

[ pur-jing ]

adjective

1. having a clearing, emptying, or purifying effect:

   Her fears of death have passed like a cloud, absorbed in the purging sunlight of clear poetry.

2. having to do with deliberate or induced vomiting or evacuation of the bowels: These purging drugs have an excellent safety record.

   Many physical conditions result from the purging aspect of bulimia, including electrolyte imbalances, gastrointestinal problems, and dental issues.

   These purging drugs have an excellent safety record.

noun

1. the action of clearing, emptying, or purifying:

   It may require a lot of focused work involving the purging of old habits and harsh self-judgment.

   The drugs have been used clinically in the purging of T-cells or tumor cells from bone marrow before transplantation.

2. the act of removing or expelling people who are considered disloyal or otherwise unwanted from an organization, political party, nation, etc.:

   The judge has granted a temporary injunction stopping the purging of voter registration rolls.

   The rebels’ key negotiating point was the purging of the armed forces as a first condition.

3. deliberate or induced vomiting or evacuation of the bowels: The medication affects the salivary glands, tear ducts, intestines, and bowels, and can cause violent purging.

   Binge eating can also occur on its own without the purging that occurs with bulimia.

   The medication affects the salivary glands, tear ducts, intestines, and bowels, and can cause violent purging.

Word History and Origins

Origin of purging¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; purg(e) + -ing ²( def ) for the adjective senses; purg(e) ( def ) + -ing ¹( def ) for the noun senses

Example Sentences

SB 1 contains some language that will revive this purging effort, although with an important safeguard that wasn’t in place during Whitley’s failed 2019 purge.

From Vox

“This wholesale purging left tens of thousands in financial ruin, without jobs, with personal lives destroyed, and, in many cases, completely estranged from their own families,” the paper states.

From Washington Blade

Elsewhere there was talk of a “woke purge” and of management succumbing to a “mob.”

From Washington Post

On Election Day in 2018, along with voting purges and rejected absentee ballots, long lines and malfunctioning machines were common.

From TruthBeTold.news

Binge eating and purging does the same for someone with bulimia.

From The Daily Beast

There was something profoundly purging about finally grappling with it by putting it into words.

From The Daily Beast

Al-Zarqawi believed in the importance of purging apostates – something his follower clearly endorses.

From The Daily Beast

Not surprisingly, this pattern of paranoia-and-purging often comes at times of social instability.

From The Daily Beast

So was it simply the reports of the purging of the uncle which persuaded them to change their minds?

From The Daily Beast

The extreme relaxation of the bowels from the sudden change, frequently produces excessive purging.

From Project Gutenberg

These three cleansed that language into literature, by purging 94 it of the old Gallic chaos and clumsiness of form.

From Project Gutenberg

When either of the first two causes has given rise to purging, a moderate allowance of good hay will gradually stop it.

From Project Gutenberg

Many plans have been resorted to, but none are found to suit so well as that of bleeding and purging.

From Project Gutenberg

Violent purging soon terminates the disease, death being generally preceded by the evacuation of a quantity of blackish matter.

From Project Gutenberg