Dictionary

expurgate en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈɛks.pɚ.ɡeɪt/
• (US) audio

Etymology

From Latin expurgātus, perfect passive participle of expurgō (“purge, cleanse, purify”).

Meanings

1. (transitive) To edit out (incorrect, offensive, or otherwise undesirable information) from a book or other publication; to cleanse; to purge.
   • The publisher decided to expurgate the love scene from the book, to make it more child-friendly.
   • Yossarian was busy expurgating all but romance words from the letters when the chaplain sat down in a chair between the beds and asked him how he was feeling. 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Texan”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 6:
2. (transitive) To undertake editing out incorrect, offensive, or otherwise undesirable information from (a book or other publication); to cleanse; to purge.
   • The publisher decided to expurgate the book, which meant removing the love scene.

Forms

Deriveds

expurgatory · expurgator

Relateds

bowdlerise

Synonyms

winnow

Translations (12)

fr expurger (to cleanse, to purge) · cs cenzurovat (to cleanse, to purge) · id meralat (to cleanse, to purge) · gl expurgar (to cleanse, to purge) · fi poistaa (to cleanse, to purge) · la expurgō (to cleanse, to purge) · fi sensuroida (to cleanse, to purge) · es expurgar (to cleanse, to purge) · id ralat (to cleanse, to purge) · kmr paqij kirin (to cleanse, to purge) · kmr pak kirin (to cleanse, to purge) · ro expurga (to cleanse, to purge)