purge
v.v. to remove things or people that are not wanted from a place or group. You often use this when talking about cleaning out a computer, a closet, or a political party.
v. to rid a person, place, or organization of unwanted elements, often in a sudden or violent manner. Frequently used in political contexts to describe the removal of rivals or in technical contexts for clearing data.
I need to purge my old emails to save space.
The new manager decided to purge the department of outdated files and inefficient procedures to improve productivity.
The revolutionary government sought to purge the administration of any officials suspected of remaining loyal to the previous regime, replacing them with trusted party members.
From Middle English purgen, from Old French purgier, from Latin pūrgō (“I make pure, I cleanse”), from pūrus (“clean, pure”) + agō (“I make, I do”).
The verb is transitive and often takes the preposition 'of' to indicate what is being removed.