Sekirov Dictionary

wash a blackamoor white

verb1

•
(offensive, old-fashioned) To labour in vain, especially so as to present something as better than it really is; to whitewash.
- It is not my Intention to put myself in a Perspiration concerning any of the Hieroglyphic Emblems, or Monstrosities of the Egyptians, for it is all Labour in vain, or washing a Blackamoor white. — 1778

forms

washed a blackamoor white · washing a blackamoor white · washes a blackamoor white

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