purging

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Verb

1. present participle of purge#English|purge

Noun

purging (plural purgings)

1. The act or an instance of eliminating contamination: a purification, a cleansing, particularly:
   1. (chiefly politics) A removal of undesirable people.
   2. (chiefly chemistry) The cleansing of a device by flushing it with water, steam, or some other liquid or gas.
2. The removal of waste from the human body, particularly:
   1. (premodern medicine) The removal of excess humors through bloodletting, induced vomitting, etc.
   2. (medicine) The removal of digested waste: defecation; defecation induced by laxatives.
3. (chiefly medicine) Vomiting; vomiting induced by purgatives.
   • 1849, The Journal of Health and Disease, page 98:

     He had violent pains in his belly, and purgings...

4. (obsolete and rare) That which is purged: contamination, a contaminant; refuse; sin; etc.
5. (obsolete and rare) Synonym of purgation#English|purgation: the act or an instance of removing guilt or suspicion of a misdeed.

Synonyms

• (removal of undesirables) purge; see also witchhunt
• (defecation) See Thesaurus:defecation
• (vomiting) See vomiting and Thesaurus:regurgitate
• (thing purged) See blood, sin, Thesaurus:vomit, and Thesaurus:feces

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