| 词组 | clean, cleanse |
| 释义 | clean, cleanse According to the OED, cleanse, the older of these two words, was originally the common word for both the literal and figurative senses of "to make clean." Clean was formed by functional shift from the adjective in the 15th century and gradually took on most of the everyday dirt, with cleanse becoming the more elevated word. Consequently cleanse became more frequent in figurative use. Although clean remains the more common verb, cleanse has never lost its literal meaning. It tends to be used most often of the human body: • ... if your skin feels "tight" cleanse it with a liquid cleansing lotion or a soft cream —American Girl, December 1952 • ... their carefully cleansed skins glowed —Rebecca West, The Thinking Reed, 1936 • Transplant candidates require dialysis to cleanse their blood —Neil A. Martin, Dun's, October 1971 Sometimes its use carries a whiff of ritual: • ... he plunged the knife into the earth and so cleansed it —John Steinbeck, The Pearl, 1947 It is occasionally called in to do duty for the environment: • The rivers and the air need to be cleansed —Fred M. Hechinger, Saturday Rev., 7 Aug. 1976 It also serves for the taste buds: • Throw in a crisp lemon sorbet after a rich dish to cleanse the palate —Shirley Lowe, Sunday Mirror (London), 30 June 1968 But mostly cleanse is used figuratively: • ... Bowdler scoured Shakespeare word by word to cleanse him of every last smudge of impropriety — Richard Hanser, Saturday Rev., 23 Apr. 1955 • The whole world must be cleansed of the evil from which half the world has been freed —Harry S. Truman, broadcast, 8 May 1945 • A group of sinners reveal their wickedness and are cleansed —A. M. Sullivan, Saturday Rev., 22 Oct. 1949 • For at least 10 days I was possessed by fury, at everyone. One morning I awoke and felt for the first time cleansed and filled with hope —Nan Robertson, N.Y. Times Mag., 19 Sept. 1982 |
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