verb transitive

abs-tergĕo

2nd PP abs-tergēre · 3rd PP abs-tergrsi · 4th PP abs-tergrsum · conj. 2nd

abstergo; to wipe off; away

abstergo, gĕre rests upon spurious readings, except in eccl. Lat., as Vulg. Apoc. 21, 4), to wipe off or away, to dry by wiping.

brush away ••

Lit.: labellum, Plaut. As. 4, 1, 52: sudorem, id. Men. 1, 2, 16: vulnera, Ter. Eun. 4, 7, 9: lacrimas, Lucil. ap. Porphyr. ad Hor. S. 1, 2, 68: fletum, Cic. Phil. 14, 34: everrite aedīs, abstergete araneas, brush away, Titin. ap. Non. 192, 10.— *

by extension •

Transf.: remos (qs. to wipe away, i. e.), to break, to dash to pieces, Curt. 9, 9, 16.—

to wipe away; to drive away; expel figuratively •

Trop., to wipe away (any thing disagreeable, a passion, etc.), i. e. to drive away, expel, remove, banish: ut mihi absterserunt omnem sorditudinem, Plaut. Poen. 5, 2, 10; esp. freq. in Cic.: dolorem, Q. Fr. 2, 9: senectutis molestias, Sen. 1: metum, Fam. 9, 16; luctum, Tusc. 3, 18: suspicionem, Amm. 14, 11.

Perseus ID: n235 Key: abstergeo