Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CLEANSE, v.t. [clenz; Sax. clænsian, from clæne, clean.]

1. To purify; to make clean; to remove filth, or foul matter of any kind, or by any process whatever, as by washing, rubbing, scouring, scraping, purging, ventilation, &c.; as, to cleanse the hands or face; to cleanse a garment; to cleanse the bowels; to cleanse a ship; to cleanse an infected house.
2. To free from a foul or infectious disease; to heal. – Lev. xiv. 4, 8. Mark i. 42.
3. To free from ceremonial pollution and consecrate to a holy use. – Numb. viii. 15. Ezek. xliii. 20.
4. To purify from guilt. – 1 John i. 7.
5. To remove; as, to cleanse a crime. – Dryden.