wash

Meanings

• a thin coat of water-base paint
• the work of cleansing (usually with soap and water)
• the dry bed of an intermittent stream (as at the bottom of a canyon)
• the erosive process of washing away soil or gravel by water (as from a roadway)
  • "from the house they watched the washout of their newly seeded lawn by the water"
• the flow of air that is driven backwards by an aircraft propeller
• a watercolor made by applying a series of monochrome washes one over the other
• garments or white goods that can be cleaned by laundering
• any enterprise in which losses and gains cancel out
  • "at the end of the year the accounting department showed that it was a wash"
• clean with some chemical process
• cleanse (one's body) with soap and water
• cleanse with a cleaning agent, such as soap, and water
  • "Wash the towels, please!"
• move by or as if by water
  • "The swollen river washed away the footbridge"
• be capable of being washed
  • "Does this material wash?"
• admit to testing or proof
  • "This silly excuse won't wash in traffic court"
• separate dirt or gravel from (precious minerals)
• apply a thin coating of paint, metal, etc., to
• remove by the application of water or other liquid and soap or some other cleaning agent
  • "he washed the dirt from his coat"
  • "The nurse washed away the blood"
  • "Can you wash away the spots on the windows?"
  • "he managed to wash out the stains"
• form by erosion
  • "The river washed a ravine into the mountainside"
• make moist
• wash or flow against
• to cleanse (itself or another animal) by licking
  • "The cat washes several times a day"

Synonyms

airstream, backwash, dampen, dry wash, lap, launder, laundry, lavation, lave, moisten, race, rinse, slipstream, wash away, wash drawing, wash off, wash out, washables, washing, washout