expurgate

present singular third person expurgates · participle present expurgating · participle past expurgated · past expurgated

1. transitiveTo edit out (incorrect, offensive, or otherwise undesirable information) from a book or other publication; to cleanse; to purge.

   The publisher decided to expurgate the love scene from the book, to make it more child-friendly.

   1 more example

   Yossarian was busy expurgating all but romance words from the letters when the chaplain sat down in a chair between the beds and asked him how he was feeling.

   1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Texan”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 6

2. transitiveTo undertake editing out incorrect, offensive, or otherwise undesirable information from (a book or other publication); to cleanse; to purge.

   The publisher decided to expurgate the book, which meant removing the love scene.

   Synonyms: winnow