Wash meaning

What does “wash” mean? Definitions, examples, synonyms and opposites.

“wash” is a noun and verb with 21 meanings. Its most common meaning is: a thin coat of water-base paint.

wash

noun

  1. a thin coat of water-base paint

  2. the work of cleansing (usually with soap and water)

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

    Synonymsdry wash
  4. 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”

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

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

    Synonymswash drawing
  7. garments or white goods that can be cleaned by laundering

  8. any enterprise in which losses and gains cancel out

    “at the end of the year the accounting department showed that it was a wash”

verb

  1. clean with some chemical process

    Synonymsrinse
  2. cleanse (one's body) with soap and water

    Synonymslave
  3. cleanse with a cleaning agent, such as soap, and water

    “Wash the towels, please!”

    Synonymslaunder
  4. move by or as if by water

    “The swollen river washed away the footbridge”

  5. be capable of being washed

    “Does this material wash?”

  6. admit to testing or proof

    “This silly excuse won't wash in traffic court”

  7. separate dirt or gravel from (precious minerals)

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

  9. 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”

  10. form by erosion

    “The river washed a ravine into the mountainside”

  11. make moist

    “The dew moistened the meadows”

  12. wash or flow against

    “the waves laved the shore”

    Synonymslavelap
  13. to cleanse (itself or another animal) by licking

    “The cat washes several times a day”

Source: WordNet 3.1, Princeton University