purge
English · Français · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
purge
- /pɜːd͡ʒ/ UK
- /pɝd͡ʒ/ US
Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)dʒ
Where it comes from
From Middle English purgen, from Old French purgier, from Latin pūrgō (“to make pure, to cleanse”), from pūrus (“clean, pure”) + agō (“to make, to do”).
The slang sense derived via the 2013 film The Purge.
verb purges · purging · purged
- To clean thoroughly; to rid of impurities; to cleanse; to clear of (something unwanted). After the process, the machine purges the chamber before venting it to remove toxic gases.
- To remove by cleansing; to wash away.
- To free from sin, guilt, or burden. Purge away our sins, for thy name’s sake.
- To evacuate (the bowels or the stomach); to defecate or vomit.
- To cause someone to purge; to operate (on somebody) using a cathartic or emetic, or in a similar manner. "What did they die of?” I asked. / "Fevers. The doctor came and bled them and purged them, but they still died." / "He bled and purged babies?" / "They were two and three. He said it would break the fever. And it did. But they … they died anyway."
- To forcibly remove, for example, from political activity. Deng Xiaoping was purged twice during the Cultural Revolution, but managed to return to power after Mao's death.
- To forcibly remove people by an organization. Cromwell had Colonel Pride purge Parliament of royalists who opposed Charles I's execution.
- To clear of a charge, suspicion, or imputation.
- To clarify; to clear the dregs from (liquor).
- To become pure, as by clarification.
- To have or produce frequent evacuations from the intestines, as by means of a cathartic.
- To trim, dress, or prune.
- Of topical skincare: to force underlying acne to rise to the surface in response to ingredients that increase cell turnover, causing a temporary increase in blemishes. Differin is purging my skin.
- Of skin: to undergo the process of purging. My skin is purging.
noun purges
- An act or instance of purging.
- An evacuation of the bowels or the stomach; a defecation or vomiting.
- Something which or someone who purges; especially, a medicine that evacuates the intestines; a cathartic. he prescribes a Purge or a Vomit
- A forcible removal of people, for example, from political activity. Stalin liked to ensure that his purges were irreversible.
- An act or instance of the cleansing of pipes.
-
A red or reddish liquid that seeps out from raw muscular meat consisting mostly of water and protein; "meat juice".
Similar: weep
- The temporarily worsening of acne due to the introduction of skincare products that increase cell turnover, bringing underlying blemishes to the surface more quickly.
- A period of time in which normal rules supposedly do not apply; especially, a time for violence and gang war. The incident stemmed from a flier that circulated widely among city school students via social media about a “purge” to take place at 3 p.m., starting at Mondawmin Mall and ending downtown.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: purgation, lustration, cleanse, cleansing, purification, depuration, refine, venting, flushing, scrubbing, bleed, bleeding, bleeder, treatment, sewage, clean-up
Translations
Every language
verb to clean thoroughly; to cleanse; to rid of impurities
| Español | purgar, porgar |
|---|---|
| Português | purgar |
| Français | éliminer |
| Deutsch | säubern, reinigen, läutern, entschlacken, eliminieren, löschen |
| Italiano | purgare |
| Русский | чи́стить čístitʹ, очища́ть očiščátʹ, очи́стить očístitʹ |
verb religion: to free from sin, guilt, or the burden or responsibility of misdeeds
| Português | purgar |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | läutern, reinwaschen |
| Italiano | purgare |
| Русский | очища́ть očiščátʹ, очи́стить očístitʹ |
verb medicine: to void or evacuate; to defecate or vomit
| Português | purgar |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | erbrechen, sich übergeben, abführen |
| Italiano | purgare |
verb (of a person) to forcibly remove, e.g., from political activity
| Tiếng Việt | thanh trừng |
|---|
verb (of an organization) to forcibly remove people from
| Русский | чистка čístka |
|---|
verb to clear of a charge, suspicion, or imputation
| Português | purgar |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | reinwaschen |
| Italiano | purgare |
Talk about this word "purge." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/purge. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. purge. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/purge "purge." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/purge.Cite this
@misc{purge_2026,
title = {purge},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/purge},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
