Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Purging

Pur′ging

,
Adj.
That purges; cleansing.
Purging flax
(Bot.)
,
an annual European plant of the genus
Linum
(
Linum catharticum
); dwarf wild flax; – so called from its use as a cathartic medicine.

Pur′ging

,
Noun.
(Med.)
The act of cleansing; excessive evacuations; especially, diarrhea.

Webster 1828 Edition

Purging

PURG'ING

,
ppr.
Cleansing; purifying; carrying off impurities or superfluous matter.

PURG'ING

,
Noun.
A diarrhea or dysentery; preternatural evacuation by stool; looseness of bowels.

Definition 2024

purging

purging

English

Verb

purging

  1. present participle of purge

Noun

purging ‎(plural purgings)

  1. The act or an instance of eliminating contamination: a purification, a cleansing, particularly:
    1. (chiefly politics) A removal of undesirable people.
    2. (chiefly chemistry) The cleansing of a device by flushing it with water, steam, or some other liquid or gas.
  2. The removal of waste from the human body, particularly:
    1. (premodern medicine) The removal of excess humors through bloodletting, induced vomitting, &c.
    2. (medicine) The removal of digested waste: defecation; defecation induced by laxatives.
  3. (chiefly medicine) Vomiting; vomiting induced by purgatives.
    • 1849, The Journal of Health and Disease, page 98:
      He had violent pains in his belly, and purgings...
  4. (obsolete and rare) That which is purged: contamination, a contaminant; refuse; sin; &c.
  5. (obsolete and rare) Synonym of purgation: the act or an instance of removing guilt or suspicion of a misdeed.

Synonyms

  • (removal of undesirables): purge; see also witchhunt
  • (defecation): See Wikisaurus:defecation
  • (vomiting): See vomiting and Wikisaurus:regurgitate
  • (thing purged): See blood, sin, Wikisaurus:vomit, and Wikisaurus:feces

Translations

References

  • "purging, n." in the Oxford English Dictionary (2007), Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Similar Results