as in to censor
to remove objectionable parts from
the newspaper had to expurgate the expletive-laden speech that the criminal made upon being sentenced to life imprisonment
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Recent Examples of expurgate
The movie’s climactic punch line was repeatedly expurgated and reinstated during previews.
—
J. Hoberman, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2016
J. Hoberman, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2016
Recent Examples of Synonyms for expurgate
censor
Verb
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Chinese social media users criticized two key government policies, rare signs of public dissent in the country where the internet is heavily censored.—
Jeronimo Gonzalez,
semafor.com,
25 Dec. 2025
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The Plough and the Stars was, in the end, never censored by the government.—
Talya Zax,
The Atlantic,
23 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Expurgate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/expurgate. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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