cleanse

American

[klenz] / klɛnz /

verb (used with object)

cleansed, cleansing

to make clean.
to remove by or as if by cleaning.

to cleanse sin from the soul.

verb (used without object)

cleansed, cleansing

to become clean.

cleanse British

/ klɛnz /

verb

to remove dirt, filth, etc, from
to remove guilt from
to remove a group of people from (an area) by means of ethnic cleansing

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Related Words

See clean.

Other Word Forms

cleansable adjective
recleanse verb (used with object)
uncleansable adjective
uncleansed adjective
well-cleansed adjective

Etymology

Origin of cleanse

before 900; Middle English clensen, Old English clǣnsian, equivalent to clǣne clean + -si- v. suffix + -an infinitive suffix

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023