expurgate means to edit out (incorrect, offensive, or otherwise undesirable information) from a book or other publication; to cleanse; to purge. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 82 out of 100.
expurgate is pronounced /ˈɛks.pɚ.ɡeɪt/.
Why “expurgate” is a great word
EXPURGATE — [Verb] To remove or amend material considered offensive, objectionable, or erroneous from a text or publication. From Latin expurgātus, the past participle of expurgāre, from ex- ("out") + purgāre ("to cleanse, purge"). First attested in English c. 1620. Unlike "censor," which implies an official act of suppression, or "redact," which denotes the legal obscuring of facts, to expurgate is to perform an editorial cleansing. It is the scholar's careful excision of a ribald line, the publisher's silent deletion of a heresy, or the bowdlerizer's heavy inkblot over a single word—a quiet violence done in the name of purity, leaving the page more respectable and less true.
Etymology
From Latin expurgātus, perfect passive participle of expurgō (“purge, cleanse, purify”).
verb
- To edit out (incorrect, offensive, or otherwise undesirable information) from a book or other publication; to cleanse; to purge.“The publisher decided to expurgate the love scene from the book, to make it more child-friendly.”
- To undertake editing out incorrect, offensive, or otherwise undesirable information from (a book or other publication); to cleanse; to purge.“The publisher decided to expurgate the book, which meant removing the love scene.”