wash

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[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

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

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Verb

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

  1. To clean with water.
    The car is so dirty, we need to wash it.
    Dishwashers wash dishes much more efficiently than most humans.
  2. To move by the force of water in motion
    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.
    I wash every morning after getting up.
  5. (intransitive) To be eroded or carried away by the action of water.

[edit] Derived terms

Terms derived from wash (verb)

[edit] Translations

to clean with water
to move by the force of water in motion
to separate valuable material
to clean oneself
to be eroded

[edit] Noun

wash (plural washes)

A drawing and wash by Samuel Wallis entitled York Island (c. 1767)
  1. The process or an instance of washing or being washed by water or other liquid.
    I'm going to have a quick wash before coming to bed.
    My jacket needs a wash.
  2. A liquid used for washing.
  3. The quantity of clothes washed at a time.
    There's a lot in that wash, maybe you should separate them in half.
  4. (art) A smooth and translucent painting created using a paintbrush holding a large amount of solvent and a small amount of paint.
  5. The sound of breaking of the seas, e.g., on the shore.
    I could hear the wash of the wave.
  6. The wake of a moving ship.
    The ship left a big wash
    Sail away from the wash to avoid rocking the boat.
  7. The turbulence left in the air by a moving airplane.
  8. A lotion or other liquid with medicinal or hygienic properties.
    mouth wash
    hand wash
  9. Ground washed away to the sea or a river.
  10. A shallow body of water.
  11. 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
  12. Something where no progress is made, where nothing changes.
    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

terms derived from wash (noun)

[edit] Translations

process or an instance of washing or being washed by water
clothes washed at a time
painting
sound of breaking seas
wake of a ship
turbulence left by airplane
lotion
ground washed away to the sea or a river
shallow body of water
the normally dry bed of an intermittent or ephemeral stream - a wadi
lack of progress

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] See also

  • WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene)
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