abs-tergĕo
rsi, rsum, 2, v. a.
I.
abstergo, gĕre rests upon spurious readings, except in eccl. Lat., as Vulg. Apoc. 21, 4), to wipe off or away, to dry by wiping.
I.
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.— *
B.
Transf.: remos (qs. to wipe away, i. e.), Curt. 9, 9, 16.—
II.
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.