Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Cleanse \Cleanse\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Cleansed}; p. pr. & vb.
   n. {Cleansing}.] [AS. cl[=ae]nsian, fr. cl[=ae]ne clean. See
   {Clean}.]
   To render clean; to free from fith, pollution, infection,
   guilt, etc.; to clean.

         If we walk in the light . . . the blood of Jesus Christ
         his son cleanseth us from all sin.       --1 John i. 7.

         Can'st thou not minister to a mind diseased, And with
         some sweet oblivious antidote Cleanse the suffed bosom
         of that perilous stuff Which weighs upon the heart?
                                                  --Shak.

Source : WordNet®

cleanse
     v 1: clean one's body or parts thereof, as by washing; "clean up
          before you see your grandparents"; "clean your
          fingernails before dinner" [syn: {clean}]
     2: purge of an ideology, bad thoughts, or sins; "Purgatory is
        supposed to cleanse you from your sins"