purge Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the act of clearing yourself (or another) from some stigma or charge
    purgation; purging.
  2. noun an act of removing by cleansing; ridding of sediment or other undesired elements
    purging.
  3. noun an abrupt or sudden removal of a person or group from an organization or place
    • he died in a purge by Stalin
  4. verb oust politically
    • Deng Xiao Ping was purged several times throughout his lifetime
  5. verb clear of a charge
  6. verb make pure or free from sin or guilt
    purify; sanctify.
    • he left the monastery purified
  7. verb rid of impurities
    • purge the water
    • purge your mind
  8. verb rinse, clean, or empty with a liquid
    scour; flush.
    • flush the wound with antibiotics
    • purge the old gas tank
  9. verb eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth
    retch; regorge; be sick; disgorge; spew; vomit up; puke; honk; cat; cast; spue; upchuck; vomit; sick; barf; regurgitate; throw up; chuck.
    • After drinking too much, the students vomited
    • He purged continuously
    • The patient regurgitated the food we gave him last night
  10. verb excrete or evacuate (someone's bowels or body)
    • The doctor decided that the patient must be purged

WordNet

Purge transitive verb
Etymology
F. purger, L. purgare; purus pure + agere to make, to do. See Pure, and Agent.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Purged ; present participle & verbal noun Purging
Definitions
  1. To cleanse, clear, or purify by separating and carrying off whatever is impure, heterogeneous, foreign, or superfluous. "Till fire purge all things new." Milton.
  2. (Med.) To operate on as, or by means of, a cathartic medicine, or in a similar manner.
  3. To clarify; to defecate, as liquors.
  4. To clear of sediment, as a boiler, or of air, as a steam pipe, by driving off or permitting escape.
  5. To clear from guilt, or from moral or ceremonial defilement; as, to purge one of guilt or crime.
    When that he hath purged you from sin. Chaucer.
    Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Ps. li. 7.
  6. (Law) To clear from accusation, or the charge of a crime or misdemeanor, as by oath or in ordeal.
  7. To remove in cleansing; to deterge; to wash away; -- often followed by away.
    Purge away our sins, for thy name's sake. Ps. lxxix. 9.
    We 'll join our cares to purge away Our country's crimes. Addison.
Purge intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To become pure, as by clarification.
  2. To have or produce frequent evacuations from the intestines, as by means of a cathartic.
Purge noun
Etymology
Cf. F. purge. See Purge, v. t.
Definitions
  1. The act of purging.
    The preparative for the purge of paganism of the kingdom of Northumberland. Fuller.
  2. That which purges; especially, a medicine that evacuates the intestines; a cathartic. Arbuthnot.

Webster 1913