cleanse

present singular third person cleanses · participle present cleansing · participle past cleansed · past cleansed

1. transitiveTo free from dirt; to clean, to purify.

   An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic the way real kidneys cleanse blood and eject impurities and surplus water as urine.

   2013 June 1, “A better waterworks”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 5 (Technology Quarterly)

   Synonyms: deterge

2. transitiveTo spiritually purify; to free from guilt or sin; to purge.

   [T]he famous Ganges: whoſe vnknowne head, pleaſant ſtreames, and long extent, haue amongſt thoſe Heathen Inhabitants, (by the Tradition of their Forefathers) gained a beliefe of clenſing all ſuch ſinnes, as the bodies of thoſe that waſh therein brought with them: [...]

   1626, William Methold [i.e., William Methwold], “Relations of the Kingdome of Golchonda, and Other Neighbouring Nations within the Gulfe of Bengala, Arreccan, Pegu, Tennassery, &c. […]”, in [Samuel] Purchas, Purchas His Pilgrimes. […], 5th part, London: […] William Stansby for Henrie Fetherstone, […], →OCLC, book, page 993

3. transitiveTo remove (something seen as unpleasant) from a person, place, or thing.

plural cleanses

1. countableuncountableAn act of cleansing; a purification.

   I regularly visit the spa for a massage and a facial cleanse.

   Synonyms: cleansing