absterge, v.
(æbˈstɜːdʒ)
[? a. Fr. absterge-r (16th c. in Littré), ad. L. abstergē-re to wipe away, f. abs off + tergē-re to wipe. Perhaps directly from the Latin.]
To wipe away; to wipe clean; to cleanse; also fig. to purge.
| 1541 R. Copland Galyen's Terap. 2 H j b, But yf ye wyll clense the vlcere ye must chuse thynges y{supt} absterge or wasshe moderatly, as rawe hony. 1621 Burton Anat. of Mel. (1651) ii. ii. ii. 238 Baths..are still frequented..all over Greece, and those hot countries; to absterge belike that fulsomeness of sweat, to which they are there subject. 1718 Quincy Compl. Disp. 98 [It] absterges the mucus from the stomach and other parts. 1817 Coleridge Ess. on Own Times (1850) III. 957 It was left for the Kraulmen, from whose errors they [some converts from ‘Hottentotism’] absterged themselves, to insult and abuse them as apostates and renegades. |