expurgations
Removing offensive passages
Expurgations are acts of removing objectionable or offensive material from a text.
Publishers have issued expurgated versions of classic novels, cutting passages deemed too sexual or violent for younger readers.
The word carries a whiff of censorship—someone deciding what others shouldn't read: The expurgations left the manuscript barely recognizable.
Removal of content
- excisionCutting out of tissue
- removalAct of taking away
- cutsSevers or reduces
- abridgmentShortened form of text
revision · redlining · striking · omission · elision · condensation · shortening · trimming
Cleaning to remove pathogens
- family-friendlySuitable for all ages
- pruderyExcessive concern with decorum
- Victorianism19th-century British moral strictness
- decencyMoral appropriateness in behavior
propriety · morality · prudishness · genteel · euphemism · inoffensive · innocuous · chastity
Obscuring sensitive text
- suppressionForcible prevention or concealment
- banOfficial restriction on something
- prohibitionAuthoritative legal ban
- forbiddenNot allowed
taboo · blacklist · silencing · control · restriction · vetting · standards · guidelines
Removing dirt or toxins
- sanitizingEliminating harmful microorganisms
- purgingForcible elimination of unwanted
- scrubbingCleaning by rubbing hard
- sterilizationComplete elimination of microbes
decontamination · lustration · catharsis · whitewashing · laundering · disinfection · refinement · clarification
Segments or thoroughfares
- chaptersMain divisions of text
- versesLines of poetry
- linesStrokes connecting two points
- wordsUnits of language
phrases · scenes · episodes · illustrations · plates · footnotes · marginalia · quotations
deletion
Removal of content
abridgment · revision · redlining · striking · omission · elision · condensation · shortening · trimming · pruning
sanitization
Cleaning to remove pathogens
- family-friendlySuitable for all ages
- pruderyExcessive concern with decorum
- Victorianism19th-century British moral strictness
decency · propriety · morality · prudishness · genteel · euphemism · inoffensive · innocuous · chastity · modesty
redaction
Obscuring sensitive text
- suppressionForcible prevention or concealment
- banOfficial restriction on something
- prohibitionAuthoritative legal ban
forbidden · taboo · blacklist · silencing · control · restriction · vetting · standards · guidelines · morals
cleansing
Removing dirt or toxins
- sanitizingEliminating harmful microorganisms
- purgingForcible elimination of unwanted
- scrubbingCleaning by rubbing hard
sterilization · decontamination · lustration · catharsis · whitewashing · laundering · disinfection · refinement · clarification
passages
Segments or thoroughfares
words · phrases · scenes · episodes · illustrations · plates · footnotes · marginalia · quotations · excerpts
expurgationsadditions
Things joined to existing wholes
insertions · inclusions · interpolations · supplements · augmentations