purge

B2 · Upper Intermediate

v. to get rid of things that are not pure or not wanted from a place or a system.

v. to rid a system, place, or object of something impure, unwanted, or redundant. Transitive, often taking a direct object.

“You should purge old files from your computer to make it run faster.”

“The technician had to purge the air from the hydraulic lines before the brakes would function correctly again.”

C1 · Advanced Medicine Technical

v. to force food out of your body, usually by vomiting, often as part of an eating disorder.

v. to empty the stomach or bowels, often through induced vomiting or the use of laxatives; frequently used in the context of eating disorders.

“The patient was struggling with a cycle of eating too much and then trying to purge.”

“Clinical assessments for bulimia nervosa often focus on the frequency with which patients purge after binge-eating episodes.”

C1 · Advanced Countable noun Formal

n. the act of removing a group of people or things suddenly and forcefully.

n. the sudden and often violent removal of people from an organisation or the systematic elimination of unwanted items.

“The sudden purge of senior staff left the company in a state of confusion.”

“Historians often study the Great Purge as a period of extreme political repression and internal terror.”