absterge

t. [In Fr. absterger; Lat. abs tergeo to wipe off or away: abs = from; tergeo or tergo = to rub off.] Chiefly in Med. To wipe clean; to make clean by wiping; to purge by medicine. they [the public baths) are still frequented to by the Turkes of all sorts, men and women, absterge belike that fulsomene of sweat to which they are then subject."-Burton: Anat. of Melancholy, p. 238 abs-ter-ġent, a . & s. [In Fr. abstergent ; fr. Lat, abstergens , pr. par. of abstergeo .] Wiping clean, making clean by wiping. II. Transitive : To keep (a person) back from doing anything. "Whether he abstain men from marrying."- Mil ton: Tetrachord on.