What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Erase vs Purge - What's the difference?

erase | purge |

In transitive terms the difference between erase and purge

is that erase is to disregard (a group, an orientation, etc.); to prevent from having an active role in society while purge is to clarify; to clear the dregs from (liquor).

In intransitive terms the difference between erase and purge

is that erase is to be erased have markings removed, have information removed, or be cleared of information while purge is to have or produce frequent evacuations from the intestines, as by means of a cathartic.

As a noun purge is

an act of purging.

erase

English

Verb

(eras)
  • to remove markings or information
  • I erased that note because it was wrong.
  • To obliterate information from (a storage medium), such as to clear or (with magnetic storage) to demagnetize.
  • I'm going to erase this tape.
  • To obliterate (information) from a storage medium, such as to clear or to overwrite.
  • I'm going to erase those files.
  • (baseball) To remove a runner from the bases via a double play or pick off play
  • Jones was erased by a 6-4-3 double play.
  • To be erased .
  • The chalkboard erased easily.
    Her painful memories seemingly erased completely.
    The files will erase quickly.
  • To disregard (a group, an orientation, etc.); to prevent from having an active role in society.
  • * 1998 , Janice Lynn Ristock, ?Catherine Taylor, Inside the academy and out
  • I suggest, then, that counterdiscourses, when reductive, tend to emulate the screen discourse that erases gay sociality.
  • * 2004 , Daniel Lefkowitz, Words and Stones (page 209)
  • As a result, Palestinians are hyperpresent in Israeli media, while Mizrahim are erased from public discourse.
  • * 2011 , Qwo-Li Driskill, Queer Indigenous Studies (page 40)
  • Silence around Native sexuality benefits the colonizers and erases queer Native people from their communities.

    Derived terms

    * eraser * unerase * erasable * unerasable

    Antonyms

    * (remove markings or information) record

    Anagrams

    * English ergative verbs ----

    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.