purge

purge¹ [pə:dʒ US pə:rdʒ] v

[Date: 1200-1300; : Old French; Origin: purgier, from Latin purgare 'to make pure', from purus; PURE]

1.) [T]

to force people to leave a place or organization because the people in power do not like them

purge sth of sb/sth

▪ He sought to purge the Democrat party of conservatives.

purge sb/sth from sth

▪ plans to purge ethnic minorities from rebel-controlled areas

2.) [T]

to remove something that is thought to be harmful or unacceptable

purge sth of sb/sth

▪ an initiative to purge the PC market of software pirates

▪ Local languages were purged of Russian words.

purge sb/sth from sth

▪ It's hard to imagine now that Lawrence's novels were purged from public libraries.

3.) [T]

to destroy something that is no longer needed

▪ The system automatically purges unread emails after two weeks.

4.) [T] literary

to remove bad feelings

purge sb/sth of sth

▪ We have to begin by purging our minds of prejudice.

▪ Any doubts about his leadership were purged by the courage of his performance.

5.) [T]

to take a substance that makes your ↑bowels empty

▪ Anorexics may overeat before purging themselves or vomiting.

6.)

to force yourself to bring food up from your stomach and out of your mouth, especially because you have ↑bulimia

purge ²

purge² [i]n

1.) an action to remove your opponents or the people who disagree with you from an organization or place

▪ the Stalinist purges

purge of/on

▪ a purge of military commanders

▪ a purge on tax dodgers

2.) a substance used to make you empty your ↑bowels