- to remove dirt, filth, etc, from
- to remove guilt from
- to remove a group of people from (an area) by means of ethnic cleansing
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
cleanse /klɛnz/USA pronunciation
v., cleansed, cleans•ing.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- to make clean:[~ + object]She cleansed the wound with alcohol.
- to remove (something) from (something) by or as if by cleaning: [~ + object + from + object]to cleanse sin from the soul.[~ + object + of + object]to cleanse our souls of sin.
cleanse
(klenz),USA pronunciation v., cleansed, cleans•ing.
v.t.
v.i.
cleans′a•ble, adj.
v.t.
- to make clean.
- to remove by or as if by cleaning:to cleanse sin from the soul.
v.i.
- to become clean.
- Middle English clensen, Old English clǣnsian, equivalent. to clǣne clean + -si- verb, verbal suffix + -an infinitive suffix bef. 900
- 1. See clean.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
cleanse /klɛnz/ vb (transitive)
'cleansing' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
chloroform
- cleanse
- cleanser
- cold cream
- colonic
- detergent
- douche
- ethnic cleansing
- eyebath
- facial
- flush
- Kosovo
- lotion
- mouthwash
- oxalic acid
- potassium carbonate
- purgatory
- scour
- smudge
- sodium carbonate
- swab
- toilet
- vanishing cream
- washing soda
- abluent
- ablution
- abstergent
- bath
- bathe
- borax
- brightener
- catharsis
- cathartic
- cleanly
- cleansing tissue
- detersive
- dry-cleanse
- facial tissue
- flashing
- lavage
- laver
- mask
- purgation
- purgative
- purge
- Q-Tip
- recleanse
- tissue
- wash
- skin care