Meaning of 'wash'

noun

the work of cleansing (usually with soap and water)

Synonyms: washing lavation

noun

any enterprise in which losses and gains cancel out

Example: "at the end of the year the accounting department showed that it was a wash"

noun

garments or white goods that can be cleaned by laundering

Synonyms: washing laundry washables

noun

a watercolor made by applying a series of monochrome washes one over the other

Synonyms: wash drawing

noun

a thin coat of water-base paint

noun

the dry bed of an intermittent stream (as at the bottom of a canyon)

Synonyms: dry wash

noun

the flow of air that is driven backwards by an aircraft propeller

Synonyms: race backwash slipstream airstream

noun

the erosive process of washing away soil or gravel by water, as from a roadway

Example: "I watched the wash remove mud from our driveway."

Synonyms: washout

verb

to cleanse (itself or another animal) by licking

Example: "The cat washes several times a day"

verb

cleanse (one's body) with soap and water

Synonyms: lave

verb

wash or flow against

Synonyms: lap

verb

make moist

Synonyms: moisten dampen

verb

form by erosion

Example: "The river washed a ravine into the mountainside"

verb

remove by the application of water, other liquid, soap or other cleaning agent

Example: "I washed the dirt from my coat."

Synonyms: wash out wash off wash away

verb

apply a thin coating of paint, metal, etc., to

verb

clean with some chemical process

Synonyms: rinse

verb

cleanse with a cleaning agent, such as soap, and water

Synonyms: launder

verb

separate dirt or gravel from (precious minerals)

verb

move by or as if by water

Example: "The swollen river washed away the footbridge"

verb

admit to testing or proof

Example: "This silly excuse won't wash in traffic court"

verb

be capable of being washed

Example: "Does this material wash?"