wash

verb15

1. •
   to remove dirt from someone or something with water and make them clean

   • The car is so dirty, we need to wash it.
   • Dishwashers wash dishes way more efficiently than most humans.
2. •
   To clean oneself with water.

   • I wash every morning after getting up.
3. •
   To carry away or erode by the force of water in motion.

   • Don't pour that in the drain; it will wash downstream.
   • Heavy rains wash a road or an embankment.
4. •
   To withstand being washed without impairment, as clothing, especially dyed clothing.
5. •
   To bear without damage the operation of being washed; to be suitable for washing.

   • Some calicoes do not wash.
6. •
   (figurative) To be cogent, convincing; to withstand critique.

   • “And then, how could he know it was her coffee? No, old fellow, I don’t think that will wash.” — 1920
7. •
   To cover with water or any liquid; to wet; to fall on and moisten.

   • Waves wash the shore.
8. •
   To move with a lapping or swashing sound; to lap or splash.

   • I heard the ripple washing in the reeds, / And the wild water lapping on the crag. — 1870
9. •
   To be eroded or carried away by the action of water.
10. •
    To pass or extract (a gas or gaseous mixture) through or over a liquid for the purpose of purifying it, especially by removing soluble constituents.

    • Aqueous washings are done to remove water soluble impurities from organic products since normally the compound that you desire will be dissolved in the organic layer[…] — 2012
11. •
    To separate valuable material (such as gold) from worthless material by the action of flowing water.
12. •
    To cover with a thin or watery coat of colour; to tint lightly and thinly.
13. •
    To overlay with a thin coat of metal.

    • steel washed with silver
14. •
    To mix up tiles (before a new game) to make them random; to shuffle.
15. •
    To cause dephosphorization of (molten pig iron) by adding substances containing iron oxide, and sometimes manganese oxide.

noun26

1. •
   The process or an instance of washing or being washed by water or other liquid.

   • I'm going to have a quick wash before coming to bed.
   • My jacket needs a wash.
2. •
   A liquid used for washing.
3. •
   A lotion or other liquid with medicinal or hygienic properties.
4. •
   A situation in which gains and losses or advantages and disadvantages are equivalent, or in which there is no net change.

   • I knew that for every vote I cast for, say, the Republicans, some kid at a polling place nearby was casting his votes for the Democrats, so it was probably a wash or close to it. — 2003
5. •
   The quantity of clothes washed at a time.

   • There's a lot in that wash: maybe you should split it into two piles.
6. •
   The bow wave, wake, or vortex of an object moving in a fluid.
7. •
   The bow wave or wake of a moving ship, or the vortex from its screws.

   • The ship left a big wash
   • Sail away from the wash to avoid rocking the boat.
8. •
   The turbulence left in the air by a moving airplane.
9. •
   The backward current or disturbed water caused by the action of oars, or of a steamer's screw or paddles, etc.
10. •
    A smooth and translucent painting created using a paintbrush holding a large amount of solvent and a small amount of paint.
11. •
    A thin coat of paint or metal laid on anything for beauty or preservation.
12. •
    The breaking of waves on the shore; the onwards rush of shallow water towards a beach.

    • I could hear the wash of the wave.
13. •
    A piece of ground washed by the action of water, or sometimes covered and sometimes left dry; the shallowest part of a river, or arm of the sea; also, a bog; a marsh.

    • These Lincoln washes have devoured them. — 1596
14. •
    A shallow body of water.
15. •
    In arid and semi-arid regions, the normally dry bed of an intermittent or ephemeral stream.

    • In some desert-wash systems (which have been termed “xero-riparian”) — 1997
16. •
    A total failure; a washout.
17. •
    Waste liquid, the refuse of food, the collection from washed dishes, etc., from a kitchen, often used as food for pigs; pigwash.
18. •
    A lighting effect that fills a scene with a chosen colour.
19. •
    A lighting fixture that can cast a wide beam of light to evenly fill an area with light, as opposed to a spotlight.
20. •
    Ground washed away to the sea or a river.

    • The wash of pastures, fields, commons, and roads, […]where rain water hath a long time settled. — 1707
21. •
    In distilling, the fermented wort before the spirit is extracted.
22. •
    A mixture of dunder, molasses, water, and scummings, used in the West Indies for distillation.

    • In order to augment the vinosity of the wash, many substances are recommended by Dr. Shaw, such as tartar, nitre, common salt, and the vegetable or mineral acids. — 1793
23. •
    (slang) A fictitious kind of sale of stock or other securities between parties of one interest, or by a broker who is both buyer and seller, and who minds his own interest rather than that of his clients.
24. •
    The upper surface of a member or material when given a slope to shed water; hence, a structure or receptacle shaped so as to receive and carry off water.
25. •
    The blade of an oar.
26. •
    Ten strikes, or bushels, of oysters.

noun1

1. •
   Acronym of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene.

noun1

1. •
   Abbreviation of Washington: a state of the United States, as used in case citations.

   • “It increases anxiety in me when I leave a tab open,” said Cameron Haluska, a 26-year-old beer sales representative from Walla Walla, Wash. — 2025