rid vs cleanse

rid and cleanse both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
rid	No	No	Yes	No
cleanse	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, cleanse is a hyponym of rid; that is, cleanse is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than rid:

Other hyponyms of rid include relieve, smooth, smooth out, clear, disinfest, disembody.

rid (verb)	cleanse (verb)
relieve from	clean one's body or parts thereof, as by washing
	purge of an ideology, bad thoughts, or sins