wash meaning and definition

WASH noun

Definition of wash (noun)

1. a thin coat of water-base paint
2. the work of cleansing (usually with soap and water)
   • synonyms: lavation, washing
3. the dry bed of an intermittent stream (as at the bottom of a canyon)
   • synonyms: dry 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"
   • synonyms: washout
5. the flow of air that is driven backwards by an aircraft propeller
   • synonyms: airstream, backwash, race, slipstream
6. a watercolor made by applying a series of monochrome washes one over the other
   • synonyms: wash drawing
7. garments or white goods that can be cleaned by laundering
   • synonyms: laundry, washables, washing
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"

WASH verb

Definition of wash (verb)

1. clean with some chemical process
   • synonyms: rinse
2. cleanse (one's body) with soap and water
   • synonyms: lave
3. cleanse with a cleaning agent, such as soap, and water
   • "Wash the towels, please!"
   • synonyms: launder
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"; "Can you wash away the spots on the windows?"; "he managed to wash out the stains"
   • synonyms: wash away, wash off, wash out
10. form by erosion
    • "The river washed a ravine into the mountainside"
11. make moist
    • "The dew moistened the meadows"
    • synonyms: dampen, moisten
12. wash or flow against
    • "the waves laved the shore"
    • synonyms: lap, lave
13. to cleanse (itself or another animal) by licking
    • "The cat washes several times a day"