expurgate
verb
ex·pur·gate ˈek-spər-ˌgāt 
expurgated; expurgating
transitive verb
: to cleanse of something morally harmful, offensive, or erroneous
especially : to expunge objectionable parts from before publication or presentation
an expurgated edition of the letters
expurgation
ˌek-spər-ˈgā-shən
noun expurgator
ˈek-spər-ˌgā-tər
noun 
Did you know?
Expurgation has a long and questionable history. Perhaps history's most famous expurgator, or censor, was the English editor Thomas Bowdler, who in 1818 published the Family Shakespeare, an expurgated edition of Shakespeare's plays that omitted or changed any passages that, in Bowdler's opinion, couldn't decently be read aloud in a family. As a result, the term bowdlerize is now a synonym of expurgate.
Synonyms
- bowdlerize
- censor
- clean (up)
- launder
- red-pencil
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
They felt it was necessary to expurgate his letters before publishing them. the newspaper had to expurgate the expletive-laden speech that the criminal made upon being sentenced to life imprisonment
Recent Examples on the Web Mr. Jang’s name has been expurgated from all official records in the North. 
Choe Sang-hun, New York Times, 12 Mar. 2016 The movie’s climactic punch line was repeatedly expurgated and reinstated during previews. J. Hoberman, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2016
Choe Sang-hun, New York Times, 12 Mar. 2016 The movie’s climactic punch line was repeatedly expurgated and reinstated during previews. J. Hoberman, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2016 Word History
Etymology
Latin expurgatus, past participle of expurgare, from ex- + purgare to purge
First Known Use
1678, in the meaning defined above
expurgates
verb
as in censors
to remove objectionable parts from the newspaper had to expurgate the expletive-laden speech that the criminal made upon being sentenced to life imprisonment Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- censors
- bowdlerizes
- shortens
- edits
- reviews
- deletes
- red-pencils
- launders
- cleans (up)
- purges
- blacks out
- guts
- cuts (out)
- expunges
- cleanses
- abbreviates
- purifies
- blue-pencils
- suppresses
- examines
- excises
- blips
- screens
- represses
- condemns
- silences
- bleeps
- scrutinizes
- x's (out)
- denounces
- censures
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- approves
- authorizes
- sanctions