v. To cleanse, clear, or purify by separating and carrying off whatever is impure, heterogeneous, foreign, or superfluous.v. To operate on as, or by means of, a cathartic medicine, or in a similar manner.v. To clarify; to defecate, as liquors.v. To clear of sediment, as a boiler, or of air, as a steam pipe, by driving off or permitting escape.v. To clear from guilt, or from moral or ceremonial defilement.v. To clear from accusation, or the charge of a crime or misdemeanor, as by oath or in ordeal.v. To remove in cleansing; to deterge; to wash away; -- often followed by away.verb-intransitive. To become pure, as by clarification.verb-intransitive. To have or produce frequent evacuations from the intestines, as by means of a cathartic.n. The act of purging.n. That which purges; especially, a medicine that evacuates the intestines; a cathartic.