whitewash

Meanings

Plural: whitewashes

Noun

• a defeat in which the losing person or team fails to score
• wash consisting of lime and size in water; used for whitening walls and other surfaces
• a specious or deceptive clearing that attempts to gloss over failings and defects
• A lime and water mixture for painting walls and fences bright white.
• A complete victory or series of victories without suffering any losses; a clean sweep.
• A campaign to paper over unfavorable elements; (everyday life) pretense.
• The most basic type of thickening agent, flour blended with water to make a paste.
• Any liquid composition for whitening something, such as a wash for making the skin fair.
• A glass of sherry as a finale, after drinking port and claret.

Verb

• cover up a misdemeanor, fault, or error
  • "Let's not whitewash the crimes of Stalin"
• cover with whitewash
  • "whitewash walls"
• exonerate by means of a perfunctory investigation or through biased presentation of data
• To paint over with a lime and water mixture so as to brighten up a wall or fence.
• To cover over errors or bad actions.
• To repay the financial debts of (another person).
• To prevent a team from scoring any runs.
• In various games, to defeat (an opponent) so that they fail to score, or to reach a certain point in the game; to skunk.
• To make over (a person or character, a group, an event, etc) so that it is or seems more white, for example by applying makeup to a person, or by discounting the participation of people of color in an event and focusing on only white participation.

Synonyms

cover up, gloss over, hush up, paper over, sleek over

Antonyms

blackwash

Related Words

colourwash