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.
© Webster 1913.
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.
© Webster 1913.
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.
© Webster 1913.