Purging

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Purging \Pur"ging\, a.
     That purges; cleansing.
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     {Purging flax} (Bot.), an annual European plant of the genus
        {Linum} ({Linum catharticum}); dwarf wild flax; -- so


        called from its use as a cathartic medicine.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Purging \Pur"ging\, n. (Med.)
     The act of cleansing; excessive evacuations; especially,
     diarrhea.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
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     2. (Med.) To operate on as, or by means of, a cathartic
        medicine, or in a similar manner.
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     3. To clarify; to defecate, as liquors.
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     4. To clear of sediment, as a boiler, or of air, as a steam
        pipe, by driving off or permitting escape.
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     5. To clear from guilt, or from moral or ceremonial
        defilement; as, to purge one of guilt or crime.
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              When that he hath purged you from sin. --Chaucer.
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              Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. --Ps.
                                                    li. 7.
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     6. (Law) To clear from accusation, or the charge of a crime
        or misdemeanor, as by oath or in ordeal.
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     7. To remove in cleansing; to deterge; to wash away; -- often
        followed by away.
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              Purge away our sins, for thy name's sake. --Ps.
                                                    lxxix. 9.
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              We 'll join our cares to purge away
              Our country's crimes.                 --Addison.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  purging
       adj : serving to purge or rid of sin; "purgatorial rites" [syn: {purgatorial},
              {purifying}]
       n 1: an act of removing by cleansing; ridding of sediment or
            other undesired elements [syn: {purge}]
       2: the act of clearing yourself (or another) from some stigma
          or charge [syn: {purge}, {purgation}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  73 Moby Thesaurus words for "purging":
     absolution, abstergent, abstersion, acquittal, acquittance,
     assassination, bloody murder, bowdlerization, bumping-off,
     catharsis, cathartic, cleaning, cleansing, clearance, clearing,
     compurgation, deliverance, depurative, destigmatization,
     destigmatizing, detergent, detersion, discharge, disculpation,
     dismissal, diuretic, dry cleaning, elimination, emetic,
     emotional release, exculpation, excuse, exoneration, explanation,
     expurgation, expurgatory, forgiveness, foul play, freeing,
     homicide, intermission, justification, liquidation, lustral,
     lustration, manslaughter, murder, pardon, purgation, purgative,
     purge, purification, purificatory, purifying, quietus, quittance,
     rationalization, rehabilitation, reinstatement, release, remission,
     removal, reprieve, respite, restoration, steam cleaning, surcease,
     suspension, thuggee, thuggery, thuggism, verdict of acquittal,
     vindication