purg-

1. In Roman Catholic doctrine, the place where souls remain until they have expiated their sins and can go to heaven: Bruno’s grandmother was relieved to learn from the priest that he died in a state of grace and would not suffer unduly in purgatory.
2. An extremely uncomfortable, painful, or unpleasant situation: Jane was experiencing a purgatory of lost love from her husband.

1. To rid someone of an unwanted feeling, memory, or condition; typically giving a sense of cathartic release or providing psychological relief: Bob had helped purge Martha of the terrible guilt that had haunted her since she woke up from a nightmare or a very unpleasant dream.
2. To get rid of a group of people who are considered to be undesirable from an organization or place; usually, in an abrupt or violent manner: The political candidate purged all but a few of his central committee members for their illegal slanders of his opponent.
3. Etymology: from Latin purgare, "to cleanse, to purify." © ALL rights are reserved.

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1. The removal of pollutants from something: The city's filtration plant is able to provide purification for large quantities of water every day.
2. The making of someone to be ceremonially clean: The priest invited his parishioners to participate in a ritual bath for the purification of their souls.

1. To cleanse, refine, decontaminate: There are botanists who say trees help to purify the air.
2. To redeem or to sanctify. Priests usually purify themselves before religious ceremonies.

Characterized by moral restraint, severity, or strictness: Susan grew up in a family of non-smokers and developed a puritanic aversion to anyone who smokes near her!

Practicing or having strict religious or moral behavior: Jim has puritanical parents in that they do not allow him to go to certain movies or read immoral books, etc.

Freedom from filth: The purity of Ted's drinking water for his family during their camping trip saved them a great deal of misery.

Not free from anything of a different, inferior, or poisonous kind of material: The campers realized that the unpure water from the nearby stream was not safe to drink.

1. In law, a reference to being not cleared of a charge of wrongdoing: Even though Jake denied having anything to do with the burglary in his neighborhood, he was arrested on suspicion of having something to do with it until further investigation could render him as an unpurged person.
2. Relating to something that is not taken away or removed: There are times when some communities fail to have unpurged or clean water for their citizens.

Having air or other elements of nature polluted with unhealthy fumes: So many modern nations have unpurified conditions for their people to live in; such as, foul air that is caused by rampant industrial expansion.