abs-tergĕo, rsi, rsum, 2, v. a. (the form 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. 779: 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.), to break , to dash to pieces , 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.