1. Cleanse with a cleaning agent, such as soap, and water
   "Wash the towels, please!";
   - launder
    
2. Cleanse (one's body) with soap and water
   "She washed her face before bed";
   - lave
    
3. 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"; "he washed off the dirt from his coat";
   - wash out, wash off, wash away
    
4. To cleanse (itself or another animal) by licking
   "The cat washes several times a day"
    
5. [literary] Make moist
   "The dew washed the meadows";
   - moisten, dampen
    
6. (of a liquid, esp. water) flow against
   "the waves washed the shore";
   - lave, lap
    
7. Move by or as if by water
   "The swollen river washed away the footbridge"
    
8. Be capable of being washed
   "Does this material wash?"
    
9. [informal] Admit to testing or proof
   "This silly excuse won't wash in traffic court"
    
10. Apply a thin coating of paint, metal, etc., to
    "The artist washed the canvas with a light blue colour"
     
11. Form by erosion
    "The river washed a ravine into the mountainside"
     
12. Clean with some chemical process
    "The mechanic washed the engine parts in solvent";
    - rinse
     
13. (mining) wash by removing particles
    "Wash ores";
    - hush
     
14. Separate dirt or gravel from (precious minerals)
    "The prospectors washed the river sediment for gold"

1. The work of cleansing (usually with soap and water)
   "She gave the floor a thorough wash";
   - washing, lavation [archaic]
    
2. Garments or white goods that can be cleaned by laundering
   "She sorted her wash, separating the washables from the dry-clean only items";
   - laundry, washing, washables
    
3. A thin coat of water-base paint
   "The artist applied a light wash of colour to the background"
    
4. A watercolour made by applying a series of monochrome washes one over the other
   "The artist created a subtle landscape using the wash drawing technique";
   - wash drawing
    
5. The dry bed of an intermittent stream (as at the bottom of a canyon)
   "After the flash flood, debris was scattered along the dry wash";
   - dry wash
    
6. The erosive process of washing away soil or gravel by water (as from a roadway)
   "The spring floods caused significant wash on the hillside";
   - washout
    
7. The flow of air that is driven backwards by an aircraft propeller
   "The small plane was buffeted by the wash of the larger aircraft";
   - slipstream, airstream, race, backwash
    
8. [N. Amer, informal] Any enterprise in which losses and gains cancel out
   "at the end of the year the accounting department showed that it was a wash"

1. A state in northwestern United States on the Pacific with capital Olympia
   - Washington, Evergreen State, WA

Derived forms: washing, washes, washed

Type of: American state, be, business activity, clean, cleanse, commercial activity, cover, creek bed, displace, eat away, erode, exist, flow, fret, garment, household linen, manchester [Austral, NZ], move, process, remove, separate, serve, soil erosion, stand, streambed, swear out, take, take away, water-base paint, watercolor [US], water-color [US], watercolour [Brit, Cdn], water-colour [Brit, Cdn], wet, white goods, withdraw, work

Part of: America, 'Merica, the States, U.S., U.S.A., United States, United States of America, US, USA

Encyclopedia: Wash, Martha