expurgate

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Pronunciation

/ˈɛkspɜːɡeɪt/(EK-spur-gayt)

Part of speech

verbformal

Chinese

删除（不当内容）；审查

Definition

To remove matter thought to be objectionable or unsuitable from a text or account.

Word family

  • expurgation/ˌɛkspɜːˈɡeɪʃən/(n)删改
  • expurgated/ˈɛkspɜːɡeɪtɪd/(adj)删改过的

Collocations

  • expurgated edition
  • expurgate offensive material
  • heavily expurgated
  • expurgated version

Examples

  1. 1.The expurgated version of the novel removed all references to violence and sexuality. (censored)
  2. 2.Victorian editors routinely expurgated Shakespeare's bawdier passages. (cleaned up)

Synonyms

  • censor/ˈsɛnsə/— suppress objectionable content
  • bowdlerize/ˈbaʊdləraɪz/— remove offensive content prudishly
  • sanitize/ˈsænɪtaɪz/— make cleaner/less offensive

Etymology

from Latin "expurgare" — ex- (out) + purgare (to cleanse) — to cleanse out impurities