ethnically cleanse

Verb

ethnically cleanse (third-person singular simple present ethnically cleanses, present participle ethnically cleansing, simple past and past participle ethnically cleansed)

1. (euphemistic, transitive) To deliberately and systematically remove an ethnic, racial, or religious group from a specific area, typically through violence.
   • This is utterly absurd because the impression arises that the harder someone fights, slaughters, and "ethnically cleanses" the civilian population, the more respectfully his demands must be met.1994, United States, Foreign Broadcast Information Service, Daily Report, East Europe, numbers 136-146, page 7
   • After the Muslims or Croats capitulated, the special forces, the "dreaded paramilitary groups," entered the town and "ethnically cleansed" it of Croats or Muslims.1999, Howard Ball, Prosecuting War Crimes and Genocide, The Twentieth-century Experience, page 128