The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word CATHARSIS
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
C
A
T
H
A
R
S
I
S
More clues leading to the result CATHARSIS
- Guy with treated rash is getting purification
- Purification of member of medieval sect and little relation
- Emotional release of heretic sister
- Cleansing of felines concealing messy hairs
- . Cool guy has to accept workplace injury, getting emotional relief
- Emotional relief, as Tom is obliged to admit stress-related injury
- Racist has arranged ‘cleansing’
- Cleansing moggies is mostly difficult inside
- Release a Christmas novel, losing millions
- Oddly, chap to head riskiest release
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "‘cleansing’" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case ‘cleansing’ = catharsis.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does CATHARSIS mean?
CATHARSIS noun- A release of emotional tension after an overwhelming vicarious experience, resulting in the purging or purification of the emotions, as through watching a dramatic production (especially a tragedy).
- Any release of emotional tension to the same effect, more widely.
- A purification or cleansing, especially emotional.
- A therapeutic technique to relieve tension by re-establishing the association of an emotion with the memory or idea of the event that first caused it, and then eliminating it by complete expression (called the abreaction).
- Purging of the digestive system.