Library / English Dictionary

CLEANSE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Clean one's body or parts thereof, as by washing

Example:

clean your fingernails before dinner

Synonyms:

clean; cleanse

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "cleanse" is one way to...):

groom; neaten (care for one's external appearance)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "cleanse"):

bathe (cleanse the entire body)

wash (to cleanse (itself or another animal) by licking)

lave; wash (cleanse (one's body) with soap and water)

lather; soap (rub soap all over, usually with the purpose of cleaning)

douche (direct a spray of water into a bodily cavity, for cleaning)

floss (use dental floss to clean)

decontaminate (rid of contamination)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They cleanse themselves

Derivation:

cleanser (a preparation used in cleaning something)

cleansing (the act of making something clean)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Purge of an ideology, bad thoughts, or sins

Example:

Purgatory is supposed to cleanse you from your sins

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "cleanse" is one way to...):

disembarrass; free; rid (relieve from)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "cleanse"):

denazify (free from Nazi ideology or detach from Nazi allegiance)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Credits

 Context examples: 

She had the doctor trait which some dogs possess; and as a mother cat washes her kittens, so she washed and cleansed Buck’s wounds.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Ten years since, I flew through Europe half mad; with disgust, hate, and rage as my companions: now I shall revisit it healed and cleansed, with a very angel as my comforter.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Just before him Tom lay motionless upon the sward; but the murderer minded him not a whit, cleansing his blood-stained knife the while upon a wisp of grass.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

This increases both the water content and volume of stool, which results in increased gastrointestinal motility and the evacuation of colonic contents leading to a complete cleansing of the colon.

(PEG-based Laxative NER1006, NCI Thesaurus)

This results in a complete cleansing of the colon.

(PEG-3350/Sodium Sulfate/Sodium Chloride/Potassium Chloride/Sodium Ascorbate/Ascorbic Acid-based Laxative, NCI Thesaurus)

Then came the cleansing of the kitchen.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

This, under his direction, I cleansed and sewed together, having first shaved the edges of the wound.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

A liquid composed of active and inert ingredient(s) in an anionic surfactant, for cleansing.

(Medicated Liquid Soap Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus)

A solid in the shape of a bar composed of active and inert ingredient(s) in an anionic surfactant, for cleansing.

(Medicated Bar Soap Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus)

A solution or suspension composed of an anionic surfactant used for cleansing.

(Liquid Soap Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus)