Definitions for wash
wɒʃ, wɔʃwash

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:3.0 / 2 votes

1. washnoun

   a thin coat of water-base paint

2. wash, washing, lavationnoun

   the work of cleansing (usually with soap and water)

3. wash, dry washnoun

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

4. washout, washnoun

   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"

5. slipstream, airstream, race, backwash, washnoun

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

6. wash, wash drawingnoun

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

7. laundry, wash, washing, washablesnoun

   garments or white goods that can be cleaned by laundering

8. washverb

   any enterprise in which losses and gains cancel out

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

9. wash, rinseverb

   clean with some chemical process

10. wash, laveverb

    cleanse (one's body) with soap and water

11. wash, launderverb

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

    "Wash the towels, please!"

12. washverb

    move by or as if by water

    "The swollen river washed away the footbridge"

13. washverb

    be capable of being washed

    "Does this material wash?"

14. washverb

    admit to testing or proof

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

15. washverb

    separate dirt or gravel from (precious minerals)

16. washverb

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

17. wash, wash out, wash off, wash awayverb

    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"

18. washverb

    form by erosion

    "The river washed a ravine into the mountainside"

19. moisten, wash, dampenverb

    make moist

    "The dew moistened the meadows"

20. lave, lap, washverb

    wash or flow against

    "the waves laved the shore"

21. washverb

    to cleanse (itself or another animal) by licking

    "The cat washes several times a day"

GCIDERate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Washnoun

   an action or situation in which the gains and losses are equal, or closely compensate each other.

2. Washnoun

   (Aeronautics) the disturbance of the air left behind in the wake of a moving airplane or one of its parts.

3. Washnoun

   A thin coat of metal applied in a liquid form on any object, for beauty or preservation; -- called also washing.

WiktionaryRate this definition:3.0 / 2 votes

1. washnoun

   The process or an instance of washing or being washed by water or other liquid.

2. washnoun

   A liquid used for washing.

3. washnoun

   The quantity of clothes washed at a time.

   There's a lot in that wash, maybe you should separate them in half.

4. washnoun

   A smooth and translucent painting created using a paintbrush holding a large amount of solvent and a small amount of paint.

5. washnoun

   The sound of breaking of the seas, e.g., on the shore.

   I could hear the wash of the wave.

6. washnoun

   The wake of a moving ship.

7. washnoun

   The turbulence left in the air by a moving airplane.

8. washnoun

   A lotion or other liquid with medicinal or hygienic properties.

9. washnoun

   Ground washed away to the sea or a river.

10. washverb

    To clean with water.

11. washverb

    To move by the force of water in motion

    The flood washed away houses.

12. washverb

    To separate valuable material (such as gold) from worthless material by the action of flowing water.

13. washverb

    To clean oneself with water.

    I wash every morning after getting up.

14. washverb

    (intransitive) To be eroded or carried away by the action of water.

15. washnoun

    A shallow body of water.

16. washnoun

    In arid and semi-arid regions, the normally dry bed of an intermittent or ephemeral stream; an arroyo; wadi

17. washnoun

    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.

18. Etymology: From washen, waschen, weschen, from wascan, wæscan, from waskanan, from wod-. Cognate with Dutch wassen, wasschen, German waschen, vaske, vaska, vaska.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Washnoun

   Etymology: from the verb.

   1. Alluvion; any thing collected by water.

   The wash of pastures, fields, commons, and roads, where rain-water hath a long time settled, is of great advantage to all land. John Mortimer, Husbandry.

   2. A bog; a marsh; a fen; a quagmire.

   Full thirty times hath Phœbus car gone round
   Neptune’s salt wash, and Tellus’ orb’d ground. William Shakespeare.

   The best part of my power
   Were in the washes all unwarily
   Devoured by the unexpected flood. William Shakespeare, King John.

   3. A medical or cosmetick lotion.

   Try whether children may not have some wash to make their teeth better and stronger. Francis Bacon, Natural History.

   They paint and patch their imperfections
   Of intellectual complections,
   And daub their tempers o’er with washes,
   As artificial as their faces. Hudibras.

   He tried all manner of washes to bring him to a better complexion; but there was no good to be done. Roger L'Estrange.

   None are welcome to such, but those who speak paint and wash; for that is the thing they love; and no wonder, since it is the thing they need. Robert South, Sermons.

   To steal from rainbows, ere they drop in show’rs,
   A brighter wash. Alexander Pope, Rape of the Lock.

   Here gallypots and vials plac’d,
   Some fill’d with washes, some with paste. Jonathan Swift.

   4. A superficial stain or colour.

   Imagination stamps signification upon his face, and tells the people he is to go for so much, who oftentimes, being deceived by the wash, never examine the metal, but take him upon content. Collier.

   5. The feed of hogs gathered from washed dishes.

   The wretched, bloody, and usurping boar,
   That spoil’d your summer-fields and fruitful vines,
   Swills your warm blood like wash, and makes his trough
   In your embowell’d bosoms. William Shakespeare, Richard III.

   6. The act of washing the cloaths of a family; the linen washed at once.

2. To WASHverb

   Etymology: wascan , Saxon; wasschen, Dutch.

   1. To cleanse by ablution.

   How fain, like Pilate, would I wash my hands
   Of this most grievous guilty murther done! William Shakespeare, R. III.

   Look, how she rubs her hands.
   ———— It is an accustom’d action with her to seem thus washing her hands. William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

   Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Ps. li. 2.

   Thou didst wash thyself. Ez. xxiii. 40.

   Shall he that gives fire to the train pretend to wash his hands of the hurt that is done by the playing of the mine? Roger L'Estrange, Fables.

   2. To moisten.3. To affect by ablution.

   Be baptized, and wash away thy sins. Acts xxii. 16.

   Sins of irreligion must still be so accounted for as to crave pardon, and be washed off by repentance. Taylor.

   Recollect the things you have heard, that they may not be washed all away from the mind by a torrent of other engagements. Isaac Watts, Improvement of the Mind.

   4. To colour by washing.

   To wash over a coarse or insignificant meaning, is to counterfeit nature’s coin. Jeremy Collier, of the Aspect.

3. To Washverb

   1. To perform the act of ablution.

   I will go wash;
   And when my face is fair, you shall perceive
   Whether I blush or no. William Shakespeare, Coriolanus.

   Wash and be clean. 2 Kings v. 13.

   Are not the rivers of Damascus better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them? 2 Kings v. 12.

   Let each becalm his troubled breast,
   Wash and partake serene the friendly feast. Alexander Pope, Odyssey.

   2. To cleanse cloaths.

   She can wash and scour.
   —— A special virtue; for then she need not be washed and scoured. William Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen of Verona.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. WASH

   WASH (or Watsan, WaSH) is an acronym that stands for "water, sanitation and hygiene". It is used widely by non-governmental organizations and aid agencies in developing countries. The purposes of providing access to WASH services include achieving public health gains, improving human dignity in the case of sanitation, implementing the human right to water and sanitation, reducing the burden of collecting drinking water for women, reducing risks of violence against women, improving education and health outcomes at schools and health facilities, and reducing water pollution. Access to WASH services is also an important component of water security. Universal, affordable and sustainable access to WASH is a key issue within international development and is the focus of the first two targets of Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6). Targets 6.1 and 6.2 aim at equitable and accessible water and sanitation for all. In 2017, it was estimated that 2.3 billion people live without basic sanitation facilities and 844 million people live without access to safe and clean drinking water.The WASH-attributable burden of disease and injuries has been studied in depth. Typical diseases and conditions associated with lack of WASH include diarrhea, malnutrition and stunting, in addition to neglected tropical diseases. Lack of WASH poses additional health risks for women, for example during pregnancy, or in connection with menstrual hygiene management. Lack of sanitation contributes to about 700,000 child deaths every year due to diarrhea, mainly in developing countries. Chronic diarrhea can have long-term negative effects on children, in terms of both physical and cognitive development. Still, collecting precise scientific evidence regarding health outcomes that result from improved access to WASH is difficult due to a range of complicating factors. Scholars suggest a need for longer-term studies of technology efficacy, greater analysis of sanitation interventions, and studies of combined effects from multiple interventions in order to better analyze WASH health outcomes.Access to WASH needs to be provided at the household level but also in non-household settings like schools, healthcare facilities, workplaces (including prisons), temporary use settings, mass gatherings, and for dislocated populations. In schools, group handwashing facilities and behaviors are a promising approach to improve hygiene. Lack of WASH facilities at schools can prevent students (especially girls) from attending school, reducing their educational achievements and future work productivity. Challenges for providing WASH services include providing services to urban slums, failures of WASH systems (e.g. leaking water distribution systems), water pollution and the impacts of climate change. Planning approaches for better, more reliable and equitable access to WASH include: National WASH plans and monitoring (including gender mainstreaming), integrated water resources management (IWRM) and, more recently, improving climate resilience of WASH services. Adaptive capacity in water management systems can help to absorb some of the impacts of climate-related events and increase climate resilience.: 25  Stakeholders at various scales, i.e. from small urban utilities to national governments, need to have access to reliable information which details regional climate and climate change.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. wash

   Wash refers to the act or process of cleaning something, typically with water and/or some kind of detergent or soap. This can apply to various contexts such as washing clothes, dishes, or one's body. It may also refer to the removal or elimination of unwanted substances or impurities. Additionally, in a geographical context, 'wash' can mean a dry or shallow streambed.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Washverb

   to cleanse by ablution, or dipping or rubbing in water; to apply water or other liquid to for the purpose of cleansing; to scrub with water, etc., or as with water; as, to wash the hands or body; to wash garments; to wash sheep or wool; to wash the pavement or floor; to wash the bark of trees

2. Washverb

   to cover with water or any liquid; to wet; to fall on and moisten; hence, to overflow or dash against; as, waves wash the shore

3. Washverb

   to waste or abrade by the force of water in motion; as, heavy rains wash a road or an embankment

4. Washverb

   to remove by washing to take away by, or as by, the action of water; to drag or draw off as by the tide; -- often with away, off, out, etc.; as, to wash dirt from the hands

5. Washverb

   to cover with a thin or watery coat of color; to tint lightly and thinly

6. Washverb

   to overlay with a thin coat of metal; as, steel washed with silver

7. Washverb

   to perform the act of ablution

8. Washverb

   to clean anything by rubbing or dipping it in water; to perform the business of cleansing clothes, ore, etc., in water

9. Washverb

   to bear without injury the operation of being washed; as, some calicoes do not wash

10. Washverb

    to be wasted or worn away by the action of water, as by a running or overflowing stream, or by the dashing of the sea; -- said of road, a beach, etc

11. Washnoun

    the act of washing; an ablution; a cleansing, wetting, or dashing with water; hence, a quantity, as of clothes, washed at once

12. Washnoun

    a piece of ground washed by the action of a sea or river, or sometimes covered and sometimes left dry; the shallowest part of a river, or arm of the sea; also, a bog; a marsh; a fen; as, the washes in Lincolnshire

13. Washnoun

    substances collected and deposited by the action of water; as, the wash of a sewer, of a river, etc

14. Washnoun

    waste liquid, the refuse of food, the collection from washed dishes, etc., from a kitchen, often used as food for pigs

15. Washnoun

    the fermented wort before the spirit is extracted

16. Washnoun

    a mixture of dunder, molasses, water, and scummings, used in the West Indies for distillation

17. Washnoun

    that with which anything is washed, or wetted, smeared, tinted, etc., upon the surface

18. Washnoun

    a liquid cosmetic for the complexion

19. Washnoun

    a liquid dentifrice

20. Washnoun

    a liquid preparation for the hair; as, a hair wash

21. Washnoun

    a medical preparation in a liquid form for external application; a lotion

22. Washnoun

    a thin coat of color, esp. water color

23. Washnoun

    a thin coat of metal laid on anything for beauty or preservation

24. Washnoun

    the blade of an oar, or the thin part which enters the water

25. Washnoun

    the backward current or disturbed water caused by the action of oars, or of a steamer's screw or paddles, etc

26. Washnoun

    the flow, swash, or breaking of a body of water, as a wave; also, the sound of it

27. Washnoun

    ten strikes, or bushels, of oysters

28. Washadjective

    washy; weak

29. Washadjective

    capable of being washed without injury; washable; as, wash goods

30. Etymology: [OE. waschen, AS. wascan; akin to D. wasschen, G. waschen, OHG. wascan, Icel. & Sw. vaska, Dan. vaske, and perhaps to E. water. 150.]

WikidataRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. WASH

   WASH is a Clear Channel Communications radio station located in Washington, D.C.. Known on-air as "Wash-FM", the station has an adult contemporary format. The station also streams its broadcast on iHeartRadio. WASH has been a soft adult contemporary station in one form or another since the 70s. For a few years in the early 80s, the station attempted to do a Top 40 / CHR format which had no success and the station later returned to their original Soft AC format. On Saturday nights from 7 pm - midnight, the station plays disco music and related songs in a program known as "Jammin' Saturday Night". The station recently began broadcasting two hours of 80s music immediately following "Jammin' Saturday Night". The station plays exclusively Christmas music from mid-November through Christmas Day and calls itself "Washington's Home for the Holidays" during the season. In 2011, the station started playing exclusively Christmas music on Friday, November 18.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Wash

   wosh, v.t. to cleanse with water: to overflow: to waste away by the action of water: to cover with a thin coat of metal or paint: in mining, to separate from earth by means of water.—v.i. to cleanse one's self, to cleanse clothes with water: to stand water, of clothes: (coll.) to stand the test.—n. a washing: the break of waves on the shore: the rough water left behind by a moving vessel: the shallow part of a river or arm of the sea: a marsh or fen: alluvial matter: waste liquor, refuse of food, &c.: that with which anything is washed: a lotion: a thin coat of paint, metal, &c.: (slang) a fictitious kind of sale of stock or other securities between parties of one interest, or by a broker who is at once the buyer and the seller, and who minds his own interest rather than that of his clients.—adj. Wash′able.—ns. Wash′-ball, a ball of toilet-soap; Wash′-bā′sin, -bowl, Wash′hand bā′sin, a bowl in which to wash face and hands; Wash′-board, a corrugated board for rubbing clothes on in washing: a thin plank placed on a boat's gunwale to prevent the sea from breaking over: a board round the bottom of the walls of a room; Wash′-bott′le, a bottle used by chemists for washing chemical preparations and instruments; Wash′-cloth, a piece of cloth used in washing; Wash′-dirt, earth rich enough in metal to pay for washing; Wash′er, one who washes: a flat ring of iron or leather between the nave of a wheel and the linch-pin, under the head of a screw, &c.—v.t to lift with washers; Wash′erman, a man who washes clothes, esp. for hire:—fem. Wash′erwoman; Wash′-gild′ing, a gilding made with an amalgam of gold from which the mercury is driven off by heat, leaving a coating of gold; Wash′-house, Wash′ing-house, a house for washing clothes in; Wash′iness, state of being watery, weakness, worthlessness; Wash′ing, the act of cleansing by water: the clothes washed, esp. at one time: what is washed; Was′hing-machine′, a machine for washing clothes; Wash′ing-pow′der, a powdered preparation used in washing clothes; Wash′ing-up, Wash′-up, cleaning up; Wash′-leath′er, split sheepskin prepared with oil in imitation of chamois, and used for household purposes: buff leather for regimental belts.—adj. Wash′-off, that will not stand washing.—ns. Wash′-out, an erosion of earth by the action of water, the hole made by such; Wash′-pot, a vessel for washing; Wash′-stand, Wash′hand stand, a piece of furniture for holding ewer, basin, and other requisites for washing a person; Wash′-tub, a tub for washing clothes.—adj. Wash′y, watery, moist: thin, feeble.—n. Rain′-wash, a washing away by the force of rain: a deposit formed by rain. [A.S. wascan; Ice. vaska, Ger. waschen.]

Dictionary of Nautical TermsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. wash

   An accumulation of silt in estuaries. Also, a surface covered by floods. Also, a shallow inlet or gulf: the east-country term for the sea-shore. Also, the blade of an oar. Also, a wooden measure of two-thirds of a bushel, by which small shell-fish are sold at Billingsgate, equal to ten strikes of oysters.--Wash, or a-wash. Even with the water's edge.

Editors ContributionRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. wash

   To clean using a liquid.

   We wash our body every day in the shower.

   
   

   Submitted by MaryC on March 17, 2020  

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. wash

   Song lyrics by wash -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by wash on the Lyrics.com website.

2. WASH

   What does WASH stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the WASH acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.

Surnames Frequency by Census RecordsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. WASH

   According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Wash is ranked #9751 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
   
   The Wash surname appeared 3,324 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 would have the surname Wash.
   
   47.3% or 1,574 total occurrences were Black.
   45.9% or 1,528 total occurrences were White.
   2.6% or 89 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
   2.4% or 81 total occurrences were of two or more races.
   0.8% or 29 total occurrences were Asian.
   0.6% or 23 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.

Matched Categories

1. • Be
   • Clean
   • Cleanse
   • Cover
   • Erode
   • Flow
   • Move
   • Process
   • Remove
   • Separate
   • Soil Erosion
   • Stand
   • Streambed
   • Water-base Paint
   • Watercolor
   • Wet
   • Work

British National Corpus

1. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'wash' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1641

2. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'wash' in Verbs Frequency: #411

Anagrams for wash »

1. shaw

2. Shaw

3. haws

How to pronounce wash?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say wash in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of wash in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of wash in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of wash in a Sentence

1. African Proverb:

   Indecision is like a stepchild: if he does not wash his hands, he is called dirty, if he does, he is wasting water.

2. Carmelita Cruz:

   I think the government is guilty. But obviously they want to wash their hands and blame those who are not responsible, in this case, my son is so young. I know him. He does not know how to use a weapon. ... He doesn't even know how to use a knife. And I think that's true of all 43 of the young people. If they had weapons, they would have defended themselves.

3. Nancy Messonnier:

   Wash your hands, cover your cough, for the rest of the American public right now, we understand that folks are concerned.

4. Charles Krauthammer:

   The way the administration is always focused on what you call core Al Qaeda, as if you can ignore all the other elements, the other scattered Islamist groups around the world and you denigrate them as JV, that just doesn't wash anymore.

5. Casino:

   Ace Running a casino is like robbing a bank with no cops around. For guys like me, Las Vegas washes away your sins. It's like a morality car wash.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=wash
2. ^ GCIDE
   https://gcide.gnu.org.ua/?q=wash
3. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wash
4. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=wash
5. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wash
6. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
7. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wash
8. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=wash
9. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=wash
10. ^ Dictionary of Nautical Terms
    https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/26000/pg26000-images.html#:~:text=wash
11. ^ Surnames Frequency by Census Records
    https://www.census.gov/topics/population/genealogy/data/2010_surnames.html