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Purge vs Drain - What's the difference?

purge | drain |

In transitive terms the difference between purge and drain

is that purge is to clarify; to clear the dregs from (liquor) while drain is to draw off by degrees; to cause to flow gradually out or off; hence, to exhaust.

In intransitive terms the difference between purge and drain

is that purge is to have or produce frequent evacuations from the intestines, as by means of a cathartic while drain is to flow gradually.

purge

English

(wikipedia purge)

Noun

(en noun)
  • An act of .
  • (medicine) An evacuation of the bowels or a vomiting.
  • A cleansing of pipes.
  • A forcible removal of people, for example, from political activity.
  • Stalin liked to ensure that his purges were not reversible.
  • That which purges; especially, a medicine that evacuates the intestines; a cathartic.
  • (Arbuthnot)

    Verb

    (purg)
  • to clean thoroughly; to cleanse; to rid of impurities
  • (religion) to free from sin, guilt, or the burden or responsibility of misdeeds
  • To remove by cleansing; to wash away.
  • * Bible, Psalms lxxix. 9
  • Purge away our sins, for thy name's sake.
  • * Addison
  • We'll join our cares to purge away / Our country's crimes.
  • (medicine) to void (the bowels); to vomit.
  • (medicine) To operate on (somebody) as a cathartic, or in a similar manner.
  • (legal) to clear of a charge, suspicion, or imputation
  • To clarify; to clear the dregs from (liquor).
  • To become pure, as by clarification.
  • To have or produce frequent evacuations from the intestines, as by means of a cathartic.
  • drain

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A conduit allowing liquid to flow out of an otherwise contained volume.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-03, volume=101, issue=2, page=114, magazine=(American Scientist)
  • , author=Frank Fish, George Lauder , title= Not Just Going with the Flow , passage=An extreme version of vorticity is a vortex . The vortex is a spinning, cyclonic mass of fluid, which can be observed in the rotation of water going down a drain , as well as in smoke rings, tornados and hurricanes.}}
  • An access point or conduit for rainwater that drains directly downstream in a (drainage) basin without going through sewers or water treatment in order to prevent or belay floods.
  • Something consuming resources and providing nothing in return.
  • (label) An act of urination.
  • (label) The name of one terminal of a field effect transistor (FET).
  • Derived terms

    * circle the drain * down the drain * drain fly

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To lose liquid.
  • The clogged sink drained slowly.
  • To flow gradually.
  • The water of low ground drains off.
  • (ergative) To cause liquid to flow out of.
  • Please drain the sink. It's full of dirty water.
  • (ergative) To convert a perennially wet place into a dry one.
  • They had to drain the swampy land before the parking lot could be built.
  • To deplete of energy or resources.
  • The stress of this job is really draining me.
  • To draw off by degrees; to cause to flow gradually out or off; hence, to exhaust.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • Fountains drain the water from the ground adjacent.
  • * Motley
  • But it was not alone that he drained their treasure and hampered their industry.
  • (obsolete) To filter.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • Salt water, drained through twenty vessels of earth, hath become fresh.
  • (pinball) To fall off the bottom of the playfield.
  • * 1990 , Steven A. Schwartz, Compute's Nintendo Secrets
  • When a ball finally drains , it's gulped down by a giant gator beneath the set of flippers.

    Derived terms

    * drainage * drain the lizard (vulgar)

    Anagrams

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