1Drive out or attempt to drive out (a supposed evil spirit) from a person or place.

1. 1.1 Rid (a person or place) of a supposed evil spirit.
   infants were exorcised prior to baptism

   Example sentencesExamples

   • As we join them, they're marking another German village as they construct an elaborate show to convince the locals they've exorcised a witch that didn't exist in the first place.
   • But there's a major difference between believing in demonic possession and using torture and beatings to exorcize children.
   • In a traumatic ritual, she was exorcised in a local church at the age of 17.
   • They use certain Quranic verses to exorcize someone.
   • Or, if I was very unlucky and lived in a remote Scottish hamlet, a lay preacher would have been brought around to my house to exorcise me.
   • Nobody tried to exorcise me when I was at that church.
   • When the pope turned his attention to the young woman, he prayed over her, exorcised her, and stayed with her for half an hour.
   • An attempt to exorcise the house by a Catholic priest ended with him fleeing in fear and prompted the strange occurrences to intensify.
   • In particular, says the Report, it was thought necessary in the Early Church to exorcise the sites of churches to be consecrated or reconsecrated.
   • It is not people or places which are exorcised, but rather the demonic forces of evil in those persons or places.
   • If you do she'll exorcize you herself from within.
   • Please don't let Chris try to exorcise me again.
   • Now the feng shui doctor has been called in to exorcise the room.
   • The monk and nuns accused of killing her said they had been exorcising her of evil spirits.
   • The newspapers have run stories about a girl who was almost trampled to death under the feet of a church congregation as they tried to exorcise her.
   • The other religious people heard of the demon in the church and warned him to exorcize me from the place.
   • Instead of letting us exorcise him, she makes him help out with the housework.
   • It probably means half the pubs in Glasgow won't allow me to drink in them anymore, but it was worth it to say I was exorcised in the Vatican.
   • Then, the priest exorcises the child by breathing on the child's forehead, mouth, and breast.
   • If somebody was brought to me who needed to be exorcised, provided that the person was willing, I would do all I could to help.

   Synonyms

   drive out, cast out, expel

   rid, deliver, free, purify, cleanse, purge

   rare lustrate
2. 1.2 Completely remove (something unpleasant) from one's mind or memory.
   she wanted to exorcise some of the pain

   Example sentencesExamples

   • There is also a good deal of confusion as to whether it is better to exorcise or exercise one's memories.
   • Even before he had buried her, he had begun to try to exorcise the memory of her final bewildered, agonized week.
   • This afternoon, in an altogether less meaningful league fixture between the sides, Lennon returns to the Gorgie ground determined to exorcise the memory of that demoralising day.
   • His win in California this year exorcised the memory of a famous flop in the same event two years ago.
   • Among other things, this will help all parties concerned to exorcise any remaining bad memories of religious conflict, and get on with their lives.
   • His main concern, and that of his players, is that they have the opportunity to exorcise the memory of a bad experience in the Connacht semi-final against Roscommon.
   • Our country's military, and much of our populace, has been possessed by the memory of that defeat and will do almost anything to exorcize it.
   • That doesn't particularly inspire confidence as the ladies bid to exorcise the painful memories of last year's defeat.
   • They will insure that no matter what the magnitude of his achievement, the memory of it will be downplayed, marginalized and exorcised - just like before.
   • It cannot exorcise their horrific memories, but at least they can again view the place as a venue where Azzurri football can be celebrated, instead of regarding it only as their graveyard.
   • The post isn't actually about the TV show, but the analogy sprung to mind and I haven't been able to fully exorcise it.
   • Wilson provides vignettes of almost 40 skeptics or atheists, most of whom were unable to exorcise religion completely from their minds and psyches.
   • It was the only time that he had been stopped in his professional career and he is determined to exorcise the memories of that defeat.
   • This was not merely a matter of Kerry exorcising the bad memories of the past three seasons, but a landmark victory in its own right.
   • It took Indian fans and cricketers several years and a few important victories to exorcise this ghost from our minds.
   • The narratives also perform the therapeutic exercise of exorcising the past, of integrating it in memory, thus forming a bridge between past and present.
   • Only four of those who perished on the claustrophobic clifftop almost exactly a year ago were granted the opportunity to exorcise those memories on the wide open spaces of Mount Florida.
   • No matter what she claims she has not managed to exorcise his memory.
   • Some warmth was gleaned from a midweek cup win over Kaiserslautern on penalties, but that alone will not exorcise the memory of last weekend's 5-1 cuffing by Schalke.
   • We might argue that she needed to ‘expose’ her mother, warts and all, in order to exorcise her memories of their relationship.