PURGING

purgatorial, purging, purifying

(adjective) serving to purge or rid of sin; “purgatorial rites”

purge, purging

(noun) an act of removing by cleansing; ridding of sediment or other undesired elements

purge, purging, purgation

(noun) the act of clearing yourself (or another) from some stigma or charge

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Verb

purging

present participle of purge

Noun

purging (plural purgings)

The act or an instance of eliminating contamination: a purification, a cleansing, particularly:

(chiefly politics) A removal of undesirable people.

(chiefly chemistry) The cleansing of a device by flushing it with water, steam, or some other liquid or gas.

The removal of waste from the human body, particularly:

(premodern medicine) The removal of excess humors through bloodletting, induced vomitting, etc.

(medicine) The removal of digested waste: defecation; defecation induced by laxatives.

(chiefly medicine) Vomiting; vomiting induced by purgatives.

(obsolete and rare) That which is purged: contamination, a contaminant; refuse; sin; etc.

(obsolete and rare) synonym of purgation: the act or an instance of removing guilt or suspicion of a misdeed.

Synonyms

• (removal of undesirables): purge; see also witchhunt

• (defecation): See defecation

• (vomiting): See vomiting and regurgitate

• (thing purged): See blood, sin, vomit, and feces

Source: Wiktionary


Pur"ging, a.

Definition: That purges; cleansing. Purging flax (Bot.), an annual European plant of the genus Linum (L. catharticum); dwarf wild flax; -- so called from its use as a cathartic medicine.

Pur"ging, n. (Med.)

Definition: The act of cleansing; excessive evacuations; especially, diarrhea.

PURGE

Purge, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Purged; p. pr. & vb. n. Purging.] Etym: [F. purger, L. purgare; purus pure + agere to make, to do. See Pure, and Agent.]

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.)

Definition: 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)

Definition: 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, v. i.

1. To become pure, as by clarification.

2. To have or produce frequent evacuations from the intestines, as by means of a cathartic.

Purge, n. Etym: [Cf. F. purge. See Purge, v. t.]

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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

29 April 2024

SUBDUCTION

(noun) a geological process in which one edge of a crustal plate is forced sideways and downward into the mantle below another plate


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