Expurgate
/ˈɛkspərˌɡeɪt/
verbC2
Definition
Expurgate means to take out words, sentences, or parts of a book, speech, or other writing because they are seen as bad, rude, or not proper. People do this to make the text cleaner or more polite for certain readers or audiences.
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See It in Action
To remove offensive or unsuitable parts from a text or speech
- •The editor expurgated the novel to make it suitable for young readers.
- •Some versions of classic books have been expurgated to avoid strong language.
- •The speech was expurgated to remove any political content that might offend.
Make It Stick
- ✓Think of "expurgate" like "clean," but for words and ideas—it cleans up a text by removing bad parts.
- ✓Picture a red pen erasing or crossing out rude or wrong words in a book to make it safe to read.
- ✓It's the feeling when you want to make a story nice for children by taking out scary or bad parts.
- ✓Sounds like "EX-pur-gate" → imagine opening a gate (gate) to let out (expel) bad parts from a text.
- ✓In stories, sometimes books or movies are changed to remove rude words so more people can enjoy them.
- ✓NOT like "edit" (which can add or change); expurgate only removes parts that are bad or wrong.
- ✓NOT like "censor" (which controls or blocks ideas); expurgate specifically cuts out offensive parts.
- ✓NOT like "delete" (which can remove anything); expurgate is about removing only parts that are considered offensive or unsuitable.
Try Other Words
- •Censor: to remove or block parts considered offensive (Use when focusing on control or restriction of ideas)
- •Edit: to change or correct text (Use when changes include adding or improving, not just removing offensive parts)
- •Remove: to take something away (Use in general contexts where the specific reason for removal is not important)
- •Redact: to remove sensitive or secret information (Use when information is hidden for privacy or security reasons)
Unboxing
- •Word parts: prefix "ex-" (out) + root "purg" (clean, pure) + suffix "-ate" (verb form)
- •Etymology: From Latin "expurgare," meaning to cleanse or purify by removing bad parts
- •Historical development: Originally used for cleaning or purifying, later applied to removing offensive parts from texts
- •Modern usage: Mainly used in formal or literary contexts to describe removing unsuitable content from writing or speech
Reflect & Connect
•When is it important to expurgate a text, and when might it be wrong to do so?
•How does expurgating a book or speech change the way people understand its original message?
Fill in the blanks
1.The publisher decided to expurgate the book ___ it contained language considered too strong for children.
2.When a text is expurgated, it means some parts were ___ because they might upset or offend readers.
3.Expurgate is different from edit because it only ___ parts rather than adding or changing them.
4.Sometimes movies are expurgated to ___ scenes that are too violent or scary.
5.The teacher expurgated the story before reading it aloud to ___ the younger students.
6.Expurgate often happens when a work is prepared for a ___ audience with stricter rules.
7.If a text is heavily expurgated, we can infer that the original had many ___ or unsuitable parts.