I. purge 1 /pɜːdʒ $ pɜːrdʒ/ BrE AmE verb
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: purgier , from Latin purgare 'to make pure' , from purus ; ⇨ ↑ pure ]
1 . [transitive] to force people to leave a place or organization because the people in power do not like them
purge something of somebody/something
He sought to purge the Democrat party of conservatives.
purge somebody/something from something
plans to purge ethnic minorities from rebel-controlled areas
2 . [transitive] to remove something that is thought to be harmful or unacceptable
purge something of somebody/something
an initiative to purge the PC market of software pirates
Local languages were purged of Russian words.
purge somebody/something from something
It’s hard to imagine now that Lawrence’s novels were purged from public libraries.
3 . [transitive] to destroy something that is no longer needed:
The system automatically purges unread emails after two weeks.
4 . [transitive] literary to remove bad feelings
purge somebody/something of something
We have to begin by purging our minds of prejudice.
Any doubts about his leadership were purged by the courage of his performance.
5 . [transitive] to take a substance that makes your ↑ bowel s empty:
Anorexics may overeat before purging themselves or vomiting.
6 . [intransitive] to force yourself to bring food up from your stomach and out of your mouth, especially because you have ↑ bulimia
II. purge 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
1 . an action to remove your opponents or the people who disagree with you from an organization or a place:
the Stalinist purges
purge of/on
a purge of military commanders
a purge on tax dodgers
2 . a substance used to make you empty your ↑ bowel s