purg-

An acquittal from a legal charge or accusation, which is obtained by statements of innocence given by witnesses under oath: Compurgation is also called "oath-helping" and it makes it possible for the defendant to establish his or her innocence, or non-liability, by taking an oath and by getting a required number of people to swear they believe the defendant is telling the truth.

1. To remove, cut out, delete, censor, or to remove passages considered obscene or otherwise objectionable from a book, a magazine, a newspaper, a movie, or a TV program: The editor expurgated several passages from the book before it was published by a well-known author.
2. Etymology: from Latin, expurgat-, "thoroughly cleansed"; from ex-, "out" + purgare, "to cleanse". © ALL rights are reserved.
© ALL rights are reserved.

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The removal of something that is considered to be objectionable or unsuitable from a publication of any kind: The writer of the newspaper article was condemned for referring to the leader of a country with a vulgar word and his publisher made the commentator use an expurgation before the obscene term appeared in the printed version of the publication.

Someone who checks any written materials to make sure that nothing undesirable, repugnant, or distasteful is printed in a specific publication: The printer's expurgator said he found that some of the author's statements were objectionable in their racist undertones.

Pertaining to appalling and abhorrent contents in verbal presentations: The expurgatory comments by one male politician regarding his opposing female candidate makes many people think that he is certainly not qualified to be elected.

1. Relating to being mixed with foreign material: An impure mixture of water and salt can be separated by distillation, with water as the distillate and salt as the solid residue; however, no matter what method is used, it is usually impossible to separate all of the impure elements completely from a substance.
2. A reference to being dirty: Parasites thrive and multiply in impure water.
3. Morally wrong; especially having immoral behavior or thoughts: The cartoonists of the drawings were suspected of harboring impure contents in their illustrations.
4. Etymology: from Latin impurus; from in-, "not" + purus, "pure".

1. Conveying an immoral or sinful reaction: Frank wondered if Sharon thought he had touched or embraced her impurely.

At the dinner party, Sharon was behaving quite impurely because she was making sneering and uncomplimentary remarks to the hostess.

2. Relating to contaminating something by making it unsafe: While Jack was camping with his friends, the food was prepared impurely because of the dust that was blowing into the meat and vegetables which were cooking on the fire.

1. A contamination according to ritual beliefs: Many of those in the church felt impureness during the preacher's sermon as he pointed out the need for everyone to be more conscious of his or her behaviors and beliefs.
2. The condition of being combined with something else, usually producing an inferior quality: The impureness in the old vintage home was indicated by the different styles of architecture that didn’t match each other.
3. The state of being mixed with contaminating material: The people in the village couldn’t drink the water in the basin because of its impureness due to bad bacteria.
4. Etymology: from Latin impurus, from in-,"'not" + purus, "pure".

1. A reference to not being mixed or adulterated with any other substance or material: There are some cars that can be driven with pure alcohol as the fuel.

Jane bought her son a jacket that is composed of pure wool.

2. Characteristic of being free of any contamination: Marfred buys his family bottles of pure water so they all can live healthier.

Used for emphasis: When Billy deliberately bumped into Jenny in the hallway after English class, it was revenge, pure and simple, because she told their teacher that he was cheating on the vocabulary quiz.

Something that is free from tainting or any polluting materials: All cities and countries strive to have clean and wholesome pureness of water for their users.

1. The cleansing of someone or something: One form of purgation is the action of clearing oneself of accusations or suspicions of doing anything wrong with a solemn promise, often invoking a divine witness, regarding one's future actions or behaviors.
2. Evacuation of the bowels brought about by laxatives: Some people find it necessary to have a daily purgation in order to avoid constipation.

1. A cleansing agent consumed by an individual which causes an evacuation of the bowels: Dr. Smythe prescribed a purgative for Jennifer in anticipation of her scheduled colonoscopy.
2. An experience or activity which helps someone to overcome the effects of negative emotional trauma: While Myrna was in a residential treatment program, she found that the purgative of creating drawings was a good method to illustrate the things that had happened to her in the past.

Descriptive of the strength or immediate effect of a laxative: Hector was experiencing extreme constipation so his doctor prescribed a more purgative medication than she usually does.

Characteristic of rites, rituals, or other religiously related activities, the purposes of which are to relieve the person of his or her transgressions: In response to Jane's confessions of her irresponsible behavior, Reverend Jones performed the most purgatorial prayers to make her feel cleansed of her sins.