purifying : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: purifying	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for purifying
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
purifying adj serving to purge or rid of sin; "purgatorial rites" [syn: purgatorial, purging, purifying] freeing from noxious matter; "filtration is a purifying agent" Antonym(s): adulterant, adulterating acting like an antiseptic Synonym(s): cleansing, purifying
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Purify \Pu"ri*fy\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Purified}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Purifying}.] [F. purifier, L. purificare; purus pure + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See {Pure}, and {-fy}.] 1. To make pure or clear from material defilement, admixture, or imperfection; to free from extraneous or noxious matter; as, to purify liquors or metals; to purify the blood; to purify the air. 2. Hence, in figurative uses: (a) To free from guilt or moral defilement; as, to purify the heart. And fit them so Purified to receive him pure. --Milton. (b) To free from ceremonial or legal defilement. And Moses took the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar, . . . and purified the altar. --Lev. viii. 15. Purify both yourselves and your captives. -- Num. xxxi. 19. (c) To free from improprieties or barbarisms; as, to purify a language. --Sprat.