clean，cleanse

用作動詞時，clean很易和另一動詞cleanse混淆不清。

Clean的意思是“使潔凈”、“把…去垢”(to make clean by washing，dusting，sweeping or brushing)。如：to clean a dress，room，hand，shoe，watch等。例：

Please clean your shoes.

請把鞋刷干凈。

He cleaned the floor with water.

他用水沖洗地板。

I have got my watch cleaned in a watch-shop.

我的表已在一家鐘表店清潔過了。

Cleanse的意思是“清洗干凈”，“使…純潔”(to make thoroughly clean or make pure)。為此，cleanse含有“徹底洗清”之意味，語義比clean強得多。clean和cleanse的另一區別是前者為一般用語;后者是正式的(formal)或古舊的用語，有時它還能用于比喻意義，例如to cleanse one’s soul洗滌心靈;to cleanse the heart of sin 洗心革面;ethnic cleansing種族清洗/滅絕。

下面請看例句：

We have cleansed the garden of weeds.

我們已把花園里的雜草清除干凈。

She bought some detergent and antiseptic from a dyeing and cleansing store.

她從一家洗染商店買了洗潔精和消毒劑。

You must cleanse your heart and soul.

你必須洗心革面，重新做人。

Cleansed of guilt by atonement，he felt light of heart again.

通過贖罪的方式洗清他的罪行后，他的心變得再次安樂。

That tribe is facing ethnic cleansing.

那部落正面臨種族滅絕的厄運。

請注意，cleanser是cleanse的名詞，它有兩個不同的意義，一個是“清潔劑”(a liquid we use for cleaning something)，另一個是“做清潔工作的人”(a person who is employed to clean something)。