v.
- clean with water and, typically, soap or detergent.
▸remove (a stain or dirt) in this way.
▸(of fabric, a garment, or dye) withstand cleaning to a specified degree without shrinking or fading.
▸do one's laundry.
- (of flowing water) carry or move in a particular direction.
▸be carried by flowing water.
▸sift metallic particles from (earth or gravel) by running water through it.
-
(wash over)
occur all around without greatly affecting.
- literary wet or moisten.
- brush with a thin coat of dilute paint or ink.
▸
(wash something with)
coat inferior metal with (a film of gold or silver from a solution).
-
[with neg.]
informal seem convincing or genuine.
n.
- an act of washing or an instance of being washed.
▸a quantity of clothes needing to be or just having been washed.
- the water or air disturbed by a moving boat or aircraft.
▸the breaking of waves on a shore.
- a medicinal or cleansing solution.
- a thin coating of paint or metal.
- silt or gravel carried by water and deposited as sediment.
▸a sandbank exposed only at low tide.
- malt fermenting in preparation for distillation.
- N. Amer. informal a situation or result that is of no benefit to either of two opposing sides.
Phrase
- come out in the wash
informal be resolved eventually. - wash one's dirty linen
(or laundry)
in public
informal discuss one's personal affairs in public. - wash one's hands
euphemistic go to the toilet. - wash one's hands of
disclaim responsibility for.
[orig. with biblical allusion to Matt. 27:24.]
Phrase verbal
- wash out
N. Amer. be excluded from a course or position after failing to meet the required standards. - wash something out
- cause an event to be postponed or cancelled because of rain.
- (of a flood or downpour) make a breach in a road.
- wash up
-
(also wash something up)
chiefly Brit. clean crockery and cutlery after use.
- N. Amer. clean one's hands and face.
Derivative
- washability n.
- washable adj.
Etymology
OE wæscan (v.), of Gmc origin; rel. to water.
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