wash

wash [wôsh, wäsh]

vt.

[ME wasshen < OE wæscan, akin to Ger waschen: for prob. IE base see WATER]

1. to clean by means of water or other liquid, as by dipping, tumbling, or scrubbing, often with soap, a detergent, etc.

2. to make clean in a religious or moral sense; purify

3. to make wet, or moisten; drench or flush with water or other liquid

4. to cleanse (itself or another) by licking, as a cat does

5. to flow over, past, or against: said of a sea, river, lake, waves, etc.

6. to soak (out), flush ( off), or carry ( away) by or as by the use or action of water [to wash out dirt, a bridge washed away by the flood]

7.

a) to make by flowing over and wearing away substance [a heavy rain that washed gullies in the bank]

b) to cut into or erode; wear (out or away) by flowing over [the flood washed out the road]

8. to act as a suitable cleaning agent for [soap that will wash silks]

9. to cover with a thin or watery coating of paint, esp. of water color

10. to cover with a thin layer of metal

11. Chem.

a) to pass distilled water through (a precipitate in a filter)

b) to pass (a gas) over or through a liquid in order to remove soluble matter

12. Mining

a) to pass water through or over (earth, gravel, etc.) in order to separate ore, metal, precious stones, etc.

b) to separate (the ore, etc.) in this way

vi.

1. to wash oneself or one's hands, face, etc.: often with up

2.

a) to wash clothes

b) to clean anything in, or by means of, water, etc.

3. to undergo washing, esp. without fading or other damage

4. to be removed by washing: usually with out or away [stains that will wash out]

5. to sweep or flow (over, against, along, up, etc.) in or as in waves or a current, stream, etc.

6. to be cut, worn, or carried (out or away) by the action of water [the bridge had washed out]

7. to be eroded, as by the action of rain or a river

8. Informal to withstand a test or examination [an alibi that won't wash]

n.

1.

a) the act or an instance of washing

☆ b) a place where something is washed [carwash]

2. a quantity of clothes, etc. washed, or to be washed

3. waste liquid; refuse liquid food, as from cooking; swill; hogwash

4.

a) the rush, sweep, or surge of water or waves

b) the sound of this

c) water rushing, sweeping, or surging in waves

d) the surge or eddy of water caused by a propeller, oars, paddle wheel, etc.

e) a disturbed eddy of air left behind a moving airplane, propeller, etc.

5. wear or erosion caused by a flow or falling of water, or by the action of waves

6. silt, mud, debris, etc. carried and dropped by running water, as of a stream

7. soil or earth from which metals, ores, precious stones, etc. may be washed

8.

a) low ground which is flooded part of the time, and partly dry the rest, with water standing in pools

b) a bog; marsh

c) a shallow pool or pond, or a small stream

d) a shallow arm of the sea or part of a river

9. a channel made by running water

☆ 10. in the western U.S., the dry bed of a stream which flows only occasionally, usually in a ravine or canyon

11. a thin, watery layer of paint, esp. of watercolor, applied with even, sweeping movement of the brush

12. a thin coating of metal applied to a surface in liquid form

13. any of various liquids as for cosmetic, grooming, or medicinal use [mouthwash]

14. fermented liquor ready for distillation

15. weak liquor or liquid food

☆ 16. Informal a drink of water, beer, etc. taken with whiskey, rum, etc.; chaser

☆ 17. Informal a situation in which contrasted elements, as the losses and gains in a business transaction, offset each other

adj.

that can be washed without damage; washable [a wash dress]

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come out in the wash Slang

1. to be revealed or explained sooner or later

2. to be resolved eventually, esp. without intervention and after a period of time

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wash down

1. to clean by washing, esp. with a stream of water

2. to follow (food, a drink of whiskey, etc.) with a drink, as of water

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wash out Slang

☆ 1. to drop out of or be dropped from a training course, athletic program, etc. because of failure

2. to reject or fail

SYN.- WASH, the most general of these words, refers to any earthy material carried and deposited by running water; DRIFT, the more precise term as used in geology, is usually qualified by a word descriptive of the manner in which the material is transported [glacial or fluvial drift]; ALLUVIUM usually refers to a deposit of relatively fine particles, such as soil, left by a flood, etc.; SILT applies to material composed of very fine particles, such as that deposited on river beds or suspended in standing water