See Also: Purge(medicine)
Purge(money)
purge(1)(dictionary)
purge(2)(dictionary)
Pride's Purge(dictionary)
purge trials(encyclopedia)
purge 1, verb(dictionary)
purge 2, noun(dictionary)

purge(2) (iou)



purge verb. ME.
[Old French purgier, (also mod.) purger from Latin purgare purify, from purus PURE adjective.]
verb trans. Make physically pure or clean by the removal of dirt or waste matter. (Foll. by of, from.) ME.
W. Whiston They purge the barley from the bran.
b. Prune (a tree); snuff (a candle). E16-E17.
c. Empty (a container etc.) of one gas or liquid by flushing with another. M20.
verb trans. Make spiritually or morally pure or clean. (Foll. by of, from.) ME.
E. Waugh Suffering had purged Mr Harkness of all hypocrisy.
b. Make ritually clean. LME-E17.
c. Rid (an organization, party, etc.) of people regarded as undesirable. (Foll. by of.) L19.
Daily Express Tito's officials are still purging towns and villages of Italian Fascists.
verb trans. Remove or clear away, out, etc., by cleansing or purifying (lit. & fig.). ME.
W. Cowper From thine eye the darkness purge.
b. Remove (a person regarded as undesirable) from an organization, party, etc. L19.
Evening News More than twenty members..have been purged by the East German Communist Party.
verb trans. Law (now Hist.). Clear from accusation or suspicion by an oath or ordeal. ME.
purge of partial counsel (Scots Law, now Hist.) request (a witness) to take an oath as to the disinterested and impartial nature of his or her evidence (usu. in pass.).
W. Stubbs Archbishop Arundel had to purge himself from a like suspicion.
b. Scots Law (now Hist.). = purge of partial counsel below. Usu. in pass. E19.
a. verb trans. Expel or cause expulsion of ingested material from (the body, now only the bowels) by evacuation; administer a laxative or (formerly) emetic to. LME.
b. verb refl. Evacuate one's bowels, chiefly & now only as a result of taking a laxative. Formerly also, vomit, esp. as a result of taking an emetic. LME.
S. Purchas They purged themselves first..and by vomit emptied their bodies.
c. verb intrans. Evacuate one's bowels. Formerly also, vomit. L16.
d. verb intrans. Act as a laxative or (formerly) emetic. E17.
H. C. Wood Medicines which purge actively.
verb trans. Law. Atone for or expunge (an offence, esp. contempt of court). Freq. in purge one's contempt. M16.
W. Blackstone Bankruptcy once committed cannot be purged..by any subsequent conduct.
verb refl. & intrans. Of a liquid: become clear, lose its turbidity. Now rare or obsolete. L17.
C. Lyell Every current charged with sediment must purge itself in the first deep cavity..it traverses.
purgeable adjective M17.
pur'gee noun a person who is purged M20.
purger noun a person who or thing which purges someone or something L15.