as in restoring
to free from moral guilt or blemish especially ceremonially
a day on which the faithful are expected to purge themselves of their sins through prayer and fasting
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Recent Examples of purging
Call this Green Bay South, and buckle up for the uncomfortable ride of purging the roster for draft picks because everything of value will likely be sold off, shipped away if the right offer is made.
—
Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 18 Mar. 2026
Order 1 dissolved the ruling Baath Party and removed all senior party members from their government positions, purging the administrative class that ran its ministries, hospitals and schools.
—Farah N. Jan, The Conversation, 10 Mar. 2026
Heaters were deployed to keep the Orion capsule on top of the rocket warm, while rocket-purging systems were adapted to the cold.
—Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 24 Feb. 2026
Solid helium flow is essential for purging the engines and pressurizing the fuel tanks.
—Marcia Dunn, Chicago Tribune, 21 Feb. 2026
Heaters are keeping the Orion capsule warm atop the rocket, officials said, and rocket-purging systems are also being adapted to the cold.
—Marcia Dunn, Los Angeles Times, 30 Jan. 2026
And so every autocrat ends up purging any kind of critic.
—Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 23 Jan. 2026
Back in Texas, five days of purging await.
—Clayton Davis, Variety, 12 Jan. 2026
Maduro complemented the repressive apparatus by purging institutions of anyone who dared dissent.
—Dallas Morning News, 3 Jan. 2026
Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 18 Mar. 2026
Order 1 dissolved the ruling Baath Party and removed all senior party members from their government positions, purging the administrative class that ran its ministries, hospitals and schools.
—Farah N. Jan, The Conversation, 10 Mar. 2026
Heaters were deployed to keep the Orion capsule on top of the rocket warm, while rocket-purging systems were adapted to the cold.
—Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 24 Feb. 2026
Solid helium flow is essential for purging the engines and pressurizing the fuel tanks.
—Marcia Dunn, Chicago Tribune, 21 Feb. 2026
Heaters are keeping the Orion capsule warm atop the rocket, officials said, and rocket-purging systems are also being adapted to the cold.
—Marcia Dunn, Los Angeles Times, 30 Jan. 2026
And so every autocrat ends up purging any kind of critic.
—Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 23 Jan. 2026
Back in Texas, five days of purging await.
—Clayton Davis, Variety, 12 Jan. 2026
Maduro complemented the repressive apparatus by purging institutions of anyone who dared dissent.
—Dallas Morning News, 3 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for purging
Verb
-
Sean O’Byrne of the Downtown Council wrote in a letter that the project will grow the neighborhood and tax base while driving more development along Main Street and restoring an architectural treasure.—
Chris Higgins,
Kansas City Star,
26 Mar. 2026
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But Lanier pressed him on an April 2020 email from Meta’s vice president of product design, Margaret Gould Stewart, who wrote directly to oppose restoring many of the filters.—
Nancy Dillon,
Rolling Stone,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The tasting begins with a palate-cleansing slurp of Soda Folk.—
Dominic Green,
The Washington Examiner,
20 Mar. 2026
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The same goes for cleansing with Epsom salt and milk baths.—
Sarah Boden,
NPR,
16 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
For some, the lack of judgment in the wilderness is healing.—
Andrew McKean,
Outdoor Life,
19 Mar. 2026
-
The new policy, set by the California Natural Resources Agency, aims to start healing the harm caused by the state’s actions to bar tribes from their homelands and criminalize their cultural and land management practices.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
In a nutshell, wastewater recycling works by first physically filtering the water, then subjecting it to reverse osmosis, and finally purifying it with ultraviolet light.—
Frank Landymore,
Futurism,
25 Feb. 2026
-
When taken together in the evening, extra virgin olive oil and fresh lemon juice are said to act synergistically to create a gently purifying antioxidant blend.—
Beatrice Zocchi,
Vogue,
29 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Purging.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/purging. Accessed 31 Mar. 2026.
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