purger
(ˈpɜːdʒə(r))
[f. purge v.1 + -er1.]
a. One who or that which purges (lit. and fig.). spec. One who carries out a political purge.
| c 1460 Wisdom 966 in Macro Plays 67 Very contrycyon..Þat ys purger & clenser of synne. 1508 Fisher 7 Penit. Ps. xxxviii. Wks. (1876) 72 Penaunce whiche is the very purger of synne. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. ii. i. 180 We shall be call'd Purgers, not Murderers. 1615 Crooke Body of Man 138 Such men doe continually vomit choller, and are called..purgers of choller vpward. Ibid., Purgers of choller downward. 1641 S. Marshall Fast Serm. bef. Ho. Com. 40 Bee yee purgers and preservers of our Religion. 1907 A. Lang Hist. Scot. IV. ii. 35 The purgers of the Kirk were not subjected to the approval of the Privy Council. 1938 Sun (Baltimore) 20 June 3/2 (heading) Purgers reported purged in Ukraine as Soviet foes. Ibid. 25 Aug. 6/5 A number of Senator Tydings' admirers have been wondering who constitute the Maryland purgers. |
† b. spec. A purgative, a cathartic. Obs.
| 1562 Turner Baths 10 Let the sicke purge him selfe with cassia fistula or suche..lenitiue or gentell purger. 1648 Winyard Midsummer-Moon 2 This purger is the only scammony, the rest somewhat milder simples. 1725 Bradley's Fam. Dict. s.v. Gangrene, Briony..being a great Purger it must be corrected. |
† c. An expurgator of books. Obs.
| 1624 Gataker Transubst. 39 The Popish purgers authorised to maine and mangle Authors. |