as in to censor
to remove objectionable parts from
the newspaper had to expurgate the expletive-laden speech that the criminal made upon being sentenced to life imprisonment
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Recent Examples of expurgate
The movie’s climactic punch line was repeatedly expurgated and reinstated during previews.
—
J. Hoberman, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2016
J. Hoberman, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2016
Recent Examples of Synonyms for expurgate
censor
Verb
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Valerie Bertinelli was censored Wednesday on The View after the actress dropped the F-word during the live telecast.—
Joey Nolfi,
Entertainment Weekly,
11 Mar. 2026
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Davidson’s Tourette’s causes involuntary tics, and he was heard cursing throughout the show, however the BBC failed to censor the N-word during its broadcast, causing further harm.—
Emily Zemler,
Rolling Stone,
3 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Expurgate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/expurgate. Accessed 18 Mar. 2026.
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