Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Purge

Purge , transitive verb

[French purger, Latin purgare; purus pure + agere to make, to do. See Pure, and Agent.]

1.
To cleanse, clear, or purify by separating and carrying off whatever is impure, heterogeneous, foreign, or superfluous.
Till fire purge all things new. — Milton
2.
(Medicine) To operate on as, or by means of, a cathartic medicine, or in a similar manner.
3.
To clarify; to defecate, as liquors.
4.
To clear of sediment, as a boiler, or of air, as a steam pipe, by driving off or permitting escape.
5.
To clear from guilt, or from moral or ceremonial defilement; as, to purge one of guilt or crime.
When that he hath purged you from sin. — Chaucer
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. — Bible (KJV) - Psalm li. 7
6.
(Law) To clear from accusation, or the charge of a crime or misdemeanor, as by oath or in ordeal.
7.
To remove in cleansing; to deterge; to wash away; -- often followed by away.
Purge away our sins, for thy name's sake. — Bible (KJV) - Psalm lxxix. 9
We 'll join our cares to purge away Our country's crimes. — Addison

Purge , intransitive verb

1.
To become pure, as by clarification.
2.
To have or produce frequent evacuations from the intestines, as by means of a cathartic.

Purge , noun

[Compare French purge. See Purge, transitive verb]

1.
The act of purging.
The preparative for the purge of paganism of the kingdom of Northumberland. — Fuller
2.
That which purges; especially, a medicine that evacuates the intestines; a cathartic. — Arbuthnot