cleanse
/klɛnz/ verb, noun
Forms cleanses cleansing cleansed
- verb (transitive) To free from dirt; to clean, to purify.
- verb (transitive) To spiritually purify; to free from guilt or sin; to purge.
- verb (transitive) To remove (something seen as unpleasant) from a person, place, or thing.
- noun An act of cleansing; a purification. “I regularly visit the spa for a massage and a facial cleanse.”
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English clensen, from Old English clǣnsian, from Proto-West Germanic *klainisōn, from Proto-West Germanic *klainī (“clean”). Cognate with West Frisian klinzgje (“to clean, cleanse”), archaic Dutch kleinzen (“to clean, purify”), Middle Low German klênsen, kleinsen, clensen (“to purify”).
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [AS. clænsian, fr. clæne clean. See Clean.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “cleanse”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details