purge
purge — verb
- purgepresent simple I / you / we / they
- purgeshe / she / it
- purgedpast simple
- purging-ing form
1. to force people to leave a political party, company, or other group because thei
to force people to leave a political party, company, or other group because their ideas or actions are considered dangerous or unacceptable to those in power
The new director purged the department of everyone who had supported her rival.
purge + organization + of + people
Andrés was purged from the committee after he spoke out against the leadership.
passive: be purged from [group]
After the failed coup, the general purged the army of all suspected traitors.
The party spent years purging members who did not follow the official line.
Top managers were purged during the company's restructuring, leaving many teams without leaders.
文法句型
purge + noun phrase (people/group) + from + organization
用法筆記
Subject is usually a government, political party leader, or high-ranking manager. The people removed are almost always described as a group or category, not as named individuals.
常見錯誤
2. to delete entries from an official list or record, sometimes without proper lega
to delete entries from an official list or record, sometimes without proper legal authority
Election officials were accused of purging thousands of voters from the register before the vote.
purge + voters + from + register
Sari found her name had been purged from the alumni database after she stopped paying.
The IT team purged user accounts that had been inactive for more than two years.
Opposition parties claimed the government was illegally purging names from the citizenship roll.
The registrar purged duplicate entries from the membership list before posting the final version.
- delete
neutral term, no implication of unfairness
- erase
implies complete removal, often with a sense of loss
- strike off
British English, formal removal from a list or register
文法句型
purge + noun phrase + from + list/record
用法筆記
Frequently describes controversial removal of names from voter rolls or membership lists, often implying the action is unfair or secretive. 'Purge' here carries a stronger negative connotation than 'remove' or 'delete'.
3. to completely remove or eliminate something harmful, unpleasant, or morally wron
to completely remove or eliminate something harmful, unpleasant, or morally wrong; to make something or someone clean or pure again
The water filter purges harmful chemicals from the tap supply.
Kenji tried to purge the accident from his memory, but the images returned at night.
purge + abstract object + from + mind
The new leader promised to purge the government of corruption within his first year.
Reema hoped the apology would purge her of the guilt she had carried for years.
The software automatically purges temporary files every week to free up storage space.
文法句型
purge + noun phrase (unwanted thing)
purge + reflexive pronoun + of + noun
用法筆記
Used for both concrete impurities (toxins, chemicals, junk files) and abstract evils (corruption, guilt, bad memories). The reflexive form 'purge oneself of' is common for moral or emotional cleansing.
常見錯誤
4. to empty the stomach or bowels of waste, usually by causing yourself to throw up
to empty the stomach or bowels of waste, usually by causing yourself to throw up or by taking medicine that makes the bowels move
Patients with severe poisoning may be given medicine to purge the contents of their stomach.
The doctor warned that purging after meals can seriously damage the teeth and throat.
intransitive use — medical warning context
Felix was admitted to the clinic after months of secretly purging to control his weight.
Some athletes have admitted to purging before weigh-ins to meet weight-class requirements.
The herbal mixture was traditionally used to purge the bowels during fasting rituals.
文法句型
purge (transitive: cause evacuation)
purge (intransitive: vomit or use laxatives)
用法筆記
⚠️ SENSITIVE TOPIC. This sense is strongly associated with bulimia nervosa and other eating disorders. Use caution when teaching this meaning; avoid framing it in neutral or positive terms. The intransitive form ('to purge') is common in medical and mental-health contexts.
purge — noun
- purgesingular
- purgesplural
1. a situation in which a large number of people are forced to leave an organizatio
a situation in which a large number of people are forced to leave an organization or country because their beliefs or actions are considered a threat
The party's purge of moderate members shocked the international community.
purge of + [type of people]
Hundreds of journalists fled the country after the army launched a purge of the media.
The purge at the university removed twelve professors who had supported the student protests.
Purge survivors described a climate of fear where no one dared to speak openly.
The company's purge of senior staff was followed by the appointment of a new board.
用法筆記
Often implies a large-scale, systematic removal that is sudden and driven by ideology or power struggles rather than performance.
常見錯誤
2. the act of deleting entries from an official list, often done secretly or withou
the act of deleting entries from an official list, often done secretly or without proper legal authority
The purge of the voter register affected more than fifty thousand people.
An audit revealed a massive purge of patient records from the hospital database.
Activists protested the purge of names from the welfare recipient list, calling it illegal.
The data purge removed thousands of inactive user profiles without notifying account holders.
Lawyers argued that the purge of opposition voters was designed to influence the election result.
用法筆記
Less common than the political-purge sense. When used for lists, it usually implies a controversial or unfair removal, as opposed to routine data cleaning.