Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To rid of impurities; cleanse.
- v. To rid of foreign or objectionable elements.
- v. To free from sin, guilt, or other defilement.
- v. To become clean or pure.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To make pure or clear; free from contamination or extraneous admixture: as, to purify liquors or metals; to purify the blood; to purify the air.
- To make ceremonially clean; cleanse or free from whatever pollutes or renders ceremonially unclean and unfit for sacred service.
- To free from guilt, or the defilement of sin; free from whatever is sinful, vile, or base.
- To elevate and free from barbarisms or inelegances: as, to purify a language.
- To grow or become pure or clear.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To make pure or clear from material defilement, admixture, or imperfection; to free from extraneous or noxious matter
- v. Hence, in figurative uses: (a) To free from guilt or moral defilement.
- v. To free from ceremonial or legal defilement.
- v. To free from improprieties or barbarisms.
- v. To grow or become pure or clear.
WordNet 3.0
- v. make pure or free from sin or guilt
- v. become clean or pure or free of guilt and sin
- v. remove impurities from, increase the concentration of, and separate through the process of distillation
Etymologies
- Middle English purifien, from Old French purifier, from Latin pūrificāre : pūrus, clean; see pure + -ficāre, -fy. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Tekroury, from the verb تكرر: meaning to renew, improve and purify, that is to say, their faith and learning by the pilgrimage.”
“According to legend, the act of riding the horses through the bonfires is meant to "purify" them, much like a traditional baptism.”
The Huffington Post: Saint Anthony's Day (PHOTOS): Baptism By Fire For Horses At Spanish Festival
“But if you're willing to sacrifice those things to "purify" the Democratic party then you're obviously more concerned with chest-thumping than actual results.”
“The commander said other motives include a desire by extremist groups to "purify" Iraq of people they perceive as infidels, or their association of Christians with U.S. forces.”
The Wall Street Journal: Iraqi Christians Make Plans for a Silent Night
“The Iranian crisis and China's efforts to "purify" the Internet have lent urgency to the cause.”
“The intolerance and belligerence of these groups find their ideological partner in the violent, Hindu nationalist groups who feel compelled to "purify" India by removing its "unclean" minorities.”
Wajahat Ali: Indian Muslims: Defining their Loyalty After Mumbai Attacks
“Should MoveOn start trying to "purify" the Dem Party, I would be my life's savings that the Dems will suffer the same fate as the current GOP.”
“Following a call from President Hu Jintao in January to "purify" the Internet, the ruling Communist Party will introduce new regulations targeting blogs and webcasts, one of the nation's chief censors was cited as saying.”
“In January, Hu made a similar call to "purify" it, and there have been many such calls before.”
“Somehow the crazy radicals that have the Republicans in a death grip think that only if they "purify" their party that the Americans will return the Republicans to power.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘purify’.
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11250 more...
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IMCO - EU nomenclature
includes words of the "Prodcom list"
abaca, abdominal, abrasive, absorbent, absorber, accelerator, accessory, account book, accumulator, acebutolol, acetaldehyde, acetamide and 4515 more...
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RELI - words with Biblical connotations
Words in the Bible evoking biblical stories or with special spiritual meaning. Proper names have been reduced to the minimum.
ark, judgement, holy, saint, baptism, spirit, love, eternal, altar, balsam, covenant, flood and 1115 more...
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RELI - words you immediately associat...
advent, almighty, altar, anoint, apostle, archangel, ark, Balaam, baptism, baptist, baptize, begotten and 341 more...
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The Blacklist
Stop SOPA.
blackout, redact, bowdlerize, censor, remove, conceal, bleach, bleep, blue-pencil, control, edit, excise and 24 more...
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TECH - food processing
absorbent material, active agent, additive, animal fat, animal product, antibacterial, antifungal, bleacher, canned goods, cereal, coagulant, coffee substitute and 81 more...
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Patty4jc's Words
family names
amy, brooke, brittany, billy, brandon, william, harvey, patricia, ann, regina, lee, corey and 94 more...
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luckylime's Words
cacophony, cascade, trigger, crunch, vellum paper, arduous, luminescent, voluminous, euphoric, bucolic, diaphanous, danger and 162 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, P
pellucid, pertain, pampas, prate, pinecone, philistine, pantocrator, papaverine, postmeridian, potlatch, pharology, pinniped and 622 more...
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5-1
Hecko, words! Thanks for staying with me. :-)
avenue, viscous, zeroth, usher, scarcely, viability, snout, sole, purify, riotous, menace, moist and 364 more...
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sgershwin's Words
baklava, cloud, dictate, somber, fiery, wrinkled, pretentious, egotistical, uppity, withdrawn, whimsical, puritanical and 13 more...
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SERENDIPITY Accidental Discoveries in...
catalyst, vinyl, sythesis, straightforward, sincere, purify, pseudo, inhibitor, exasperate, endeavor, conception, conceive and 19 more...
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beautiful words
sanguine, cordial, aesthetic, languid, vivify, elegy, gossamer, vicisstude, purify, petrichor, epiphany, clarity and 8 more...
Tweets
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