To purify; to make clean; to remove filth, or foul matter of any kind, or by any process whateve, as by washing, rubbing, scouring, scraping, purging, ventilation; as, to cleanse the hands or face to cleanse a garment; to cleanse the bowels; to cleanse a ship; to cleanse an infected house.

To free from a foul or infectious disease; to heal. Leviticus 14:4, 8; Mark 1:42.

To free from ceremonial pollution, and consecrate to a holy use. Numbers 8:15; Ezekiel 43:20.

To purify from guilt. 7 John 1:7.

To remove; as, to cleanse a crime.