Wash - Definition

n 1: a thin coat of water-base paint
2: the work of cleansing (usually with soap and water) [syn:
wash, washing, lavation]
3: the dry bed of an intermittent stream (as at the bottom of a
canyon) [syn: wash, 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" [syn: washout,
wash]
5: the flow of air that is driven backwards by an aircraft
propeller [syn: slipstream, airstream, race,
backwash, wash]
6: a watercolor made by applying a series of monochrome washes
one over the other [syn: wash, wash drawing]
7: garments or white goods that can be cleaned by laundering
[syn: laundry, wash, washing, washables]
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"
v 1: clean with some chemical process [syn: wash, rinse]
2: cleanse (one's body) with soap and water [syn: wash,
lave]
3: cleanse with a cleaning agent, such as soap, and water; "Wash
the towels, please!" [syn: wash, 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" [syn: wash, wash out, wash off, wash away]
10: form by erosion; "The river washed a ravine into the
mountainside"
11: make moist; "The dew moistened the meadows" [syn: moisten,
wash, dampen]
12: wash or flow against; "the waves laved the shore" [syn:
lave, lap, wash]
13: to cleanse (itself or another animal) by licking; "The cat
washes several times a day"