wash

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

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Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Pronunciation 1.3 Verb 1.3.1 Derived terms 1.3.2 Translations 1.4 Noun 1.4.1 Derived terms 1.4.2 Translations

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

From Old English wæscan (cognate with Dutch wassen and German waschen)

[edit] Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /wɒʃ/, SAMPA: /wQS/
• (US) IPA: /wɑʃ/, SAMPA: /wAS/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}
• Rhymes: -ɒʃ

[edit] Verb

to wash (third-person singular simple present washes, present participle washing, simple past and past participle washed)

1. To clean with water.
2. To move by the force of water in motion (as in the flood washed away houses).
3. (mining) To separate valuable material (such as gold) from worthless material by the action of flowing water.
4. (intransitive) To clean oneself with water.
5. (intransitive) To be eroded or carried away by the action of water.

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Translations

[edit] Noun

wash (plural washes)

1. The process or an instance of washing or being washed by water or other liquid.
2. A liquid used for washing.
3. The quantity of clothes washed at a time.
4. The sound of breaking of the seas, e.g., on the shore.
5. The wake of a moving ship.
6. The turbulence left in the air by a moving airplane.
7. A lotion or other liquid with medicinal or hygienic properties.
8. Ground washed away to the sea or a river.
9. A shallow body of water.
10. In arid and semi-arid regions, the normally dry bed of an intermittent or ephemeral stream; an arroyo; wadi
    • 1997, Stanley Desmond Smith, et al. Physiological Ecology of North American Desert Plants, Nature

      In some desert-wash systems (which have been termed “xero-riparian”)

    • 1999, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert

      ...though the wash may carry surface water for only a few hours a year.

    • 2005, Le Hayes, Pilgrims in the Desert: The Early History of the East Mojave Desert

      Rock Spring Wash continues a short distance then joins Watson Wash. Water from Rock Spring comes out of the boulder strewn wash and disappears into the sand

11. A lack of progress or regress; no change

    His first week at the new job was a wash, since he spent so much time learning the system instead of using it.

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Translations