expurgate

verb

ex·​pur·​gate ˈek-spər-ˌgāt How to pronounce expurgate (audio)
expurgated; expurgating

transitive verb

: to cleanse of something morally harmful, offensive, or erroneous
especially : to expunge objectionable parts from before publication or presentation
an expurgated edition of the letters
expurgation noun
expurgator noun

Did you know?

Expurgation has a long and questionable history. Perhaps history's most famous expurgator, or censor, was the English editor Thomas Bowdler, who in 1818 published the Family Shakespeare, an expurgated edition of Shakespeare's plays that omitted or changed any passages that, in Bowdler's opinion, couldn't decently be read aloud in a family. As a result, the term bowdlerize is now a synonym of expurgate.

Examples of expurgate in a Sentence

They felt it was necessary to expurgate his letters before publishing them. the newspaper had to expurgate the expletive-laden speech that the criminal made upon being sentenced to life imprisonment
Recent Examples on the Web Mr. Jang’s name has been expurgated from all official records in the North. Choe Sang-Hun, New York Times, 12 Mar. 2016 The movie’s climactic punch line was repeatedly expurgated and reinstated during previews. J. Hoberman, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2016

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'expurgate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Latin expurgatus, past participle of expurgare, from ex- + purgare to purge

First Known Use

1678, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of expurgate was in 1678

Dictionary Entries Near expurgate

Cite this Entry

“Expurgate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/expurgate. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

expurgate

verb
ex·​pur·​gate ˈek-spər-ˌgāt How to pronounce expurgate (audio)
expurgated; expurgating
: to remove objectionable parts from (as a book)
expurgation noun
expurgator noun

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