Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Purge?

\Purge\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Purged}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Purging}.] [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.) 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\, 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. [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.