*was*

. Waste material from the manufacture of alkali; specif., soda waste. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. [ Pref. a- + wash. ] 1. Washed by the waves or tide; -- said of a rock or strip of shore; or specifically: (Naut.) flush with the surface of the water, so that the waves break over it; -- of an anchor, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Abounding; filled; covered; -- used mostly with in or with, in phrases such as “stores awash with customers”. [ PJC ]

v. t. 1. To clean the oil from (wool) after combing. Ash. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Chem.) To clean (a filter, a chromatography column, a water softener, etc.) by passing liquid through in the reverse of the normal direction of flow. This procedure dislodges particles which clog the pores of the filter or column packing, removing them from the filter or column. [ PJC ]

n. 1. The flow of water propelled backward by the propeller, paddle wheel, or oars of a boat. [ PJC ]

2. (Aeron.) The backward flowing air within the wash of an airplane, caused mostly by the engine. [ PJC ]

v. t. To drench or souse with water. “Let the maids bewash the men.” Herrick. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ it>or }, n. 1. (Med.) A lotion made by mixing calomel and lime water. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A wash that blackens, as opposed to whitewash; hence, figuratively, calumny. [ 1913 Webster ]

To remove as far as he can the modern layers of black wash, and let the man himself, fair or foul, be seen. C. Kingsley. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. 1. same as defame. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. to color with blackwash. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. [ imp. & p. p. brainwashed; p. pr. & vb. n. brainwashing ] 1. to persuade completely; as, the propaganda brainwashed many people. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. to to indoctrinate forcibly or by means of torture, or by constant psychological pressure.
Syn. -- submit to brainwashing. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. subjected to intensive forced indoctrination resulting in the rejection of old beliefs and acceptance of new ones. brainwashed prisoners of war; captive audiences for TV commercials can become brainwashed consumers unbrainwashed [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. the process of forcible indoctrination into a new set of attitudes and beliefs. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The outlet from a dam or reservoir; also, a cut to divert the flow of water. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who consumes candles by being up late for study or dissipation. [ 1913 Webster ]

A bookworm, a candlewaster. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, washes dishes. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) A European bird; the wagtail. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. an electrical appliance{ 4 } which washes tableware automatically by directing powerful streams of hot soapy water at the items from multiple jets. [ PJC ]

n. See Eyewater. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. See Forewaste. Gascoigne. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Pref. for- + waste. ] To desolate or lay waste utterly. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Etymol. uncertain. ] (Zool.) A West Indian lizard (Celestus occiduus), about a foot long, imagined by the natives to be venomous. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. to wash by hand, launder by hand; -- contrasted to machine-wash. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. Swill. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Meaningless talk; nonsense; balderdash; bunk; -- also used as an interjection, expressing scornful disbelief. [ PJC ]

n. pl.; sing. Iowa. (Ethnol.) A tribe of Indians which formerly occupied the region now included in the State of Iowa. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ G., fr. kirsche cherry + wasser water. ] An alcoholic liquor, obtained by distilling the fermented juice of the small black cherry. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A washer that is not completely smooth or flat, designed to prevent a nut from loosening, placed under the nut on a screw or bolt. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ 1st milt + waste. ] (Bot.) A small European fern (Asplenium Ceterach) formerly used in medicine. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a medicated solution used for gargling and rinsing the mouth.
Syn. -- gargle. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. not washable; damaged by washing; -- used mostly of clothing, especially clothing that must be cleaned by a dry-cleaning process. Opposite of washable. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. pl.; sing. Ottawa /sing>. (Ethnol.) A tribe of Indians who, when first known, lived on the Ottawa River. Most of them subsequently migrated to the southwestern shore of Lake Superior. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To overflow. Holinshed. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Wasted or worn out; consumed; spent [ Obs. ] Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Swash, v. i., Squash, v. t. ] (Arch.) An oval figure, whose moldings are oblique to the axis of the work. Moxon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Swash plate (Mach.), a revolving circular plate, set obliquely on its shaft, and acting as a cam to give a reciprocating motion to a rod in a direction parallel to the shaft. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. Swash, v. i., Squash, v. t. ] Soft, like fruit too ripe; swashy. [ Prov. Eng. ] Pegge. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Swashed p. pr. & vb. n. Swashing. ] [ Probably of imitative origin; cf. Sw. svasska to splash, and, for sense 3, Sw. svassa to bully, to rodomontade. ] 1. To dash or flow noisily, as water; to splash; as, water swashing on a shallow place. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To fall violently or noisily. [ Obs. ] Holinshed. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To bluster; to make a great noise; to vapor or brag. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Impulse of water flowing with violence; a dashing or splashing of water. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A narrow sound or channel of water lying within a sand bank, or between a sand bank and the shore, or a bar over which the sea washes. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Liquid filth; wash; hog mash. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A blustering noise; a swaggering behavior. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A swaggering fellow; a swasher. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A bully or braggadocio; a swaggering, boastful fellow; a swaggerer. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who makes a blustering show of valor or force of arms. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Swaggering; hectoring. “A swashing and martial outside.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Resounding; crushing. “Swashing blow.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as 4th Swash, 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Soft, like fruit that is too ripe; quashy; swash. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ Also suastica, svastika, etc. ] [ Skr. svastika, fr. svasti walfare; su well + asti being. ] A symbol or ornament in the form of a Greek cross with the ends of the arms at right angles all in the same direction, and each prolonged to the height of the parallel arm of the cross. A great many modified forms exist, ogee and volute as well as rectilinear, while various decorative designs, as Greek fret or meander, are derived from or closely associated with it. The swastika is found in remains from the Bronze Age in various parts of Europe, esp. at Hissarlik (Troy), and was in frequent use as late as the 10th century. It is found in ancient Persia, in India, where both Jains and Buddhists used (or still use) it as religious symbol, in China and Japan, and among Indian tribes of North, Central, and South America. It is usually thought to be a charm, talisman, or religious token, esp. a sign of good luck or benediction. Max Müller distinguished from the swastika, with arms prolonged to the right, the suavastika, with arms prolonged to the left, but this distinction is not commonly recognized. Other names for the swastika are fylfot and gammadion. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

The swastika with arms bent to the right came to be used as a symbol of Aryan supremacy by the Nazi party in Germany, 1933 - 1945; hence, it is now associated in the United States and European countries with Nazism or antisemitism. It is sometimes used by neo-nazis, or by antisemites as an antisemitic symbol. [ PJC ]

n. One who extracts the residuum of precious metals from the sweepings, potsherds, etc., of refineries of gold and silver, or places where these metals are used. [ 1913 Webster ]

A contraction of it was. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Not washed or cleansed; filthy; unclean. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ 1913 Webster ]

a. Not washed. [ Archaic ] “To eat with unwashen hands.” Matt. xv. 20. [ 1913 Webster ]

See accommodating.
See aching.
See ailing.
See aiming.
See alarming.
See altering.
See appreciating.
See approving.
See aspiring.
See assisting.
See attempting.
See attending.
See bearing.
See befitting.
See beginning.
See believing.
See bleaching.
See bleeding.
See blemishing.
See blenching.
See blossoming.
See blushing.
See boding.
See branching.
See breathing.
See burning.
See calculating.
See ceasing.
See changing.
See charming.
See communicating.
See complaining.
See complying.
See conceiving.
See conducing.
See confessing.
See conniving.
See consenting.
See considering.
See conspiring.
See consulting.
See consuming.
See contending.
See contriving.
See conversing.
See convincing.
See dawning.
See decaying.
See delaying.
See depending.
See derogating.
See deserving.
See desiring.
See despairing.
See detesting.
See deviating.
See differencing.
See discerning.
See discording.
See discriminating.
See disobliging.
See dispensing.
See dissembling.
See dissolving.
See distinguishing.
See distracting.
See disturbing.
See doubting.
See dreading.
See drooping.
See ebbing.
See echoing.
See edifying.
See ending.
See enduring.
See engaging.
See enjoying.
See entering.
See enterprising.
See entertaining.
See envying.
See existing.
See fadging.
See fading.
See fainting.
See faltering.
See fearing.
See feigning.
See fighting.
See fitting.
See flagging.
See flattering.
See flinching.
See folding.
See forbearing.
See foreboding.
See foreseeing.
See forgiving.
See giving.
See grudging.
See harming.
See heeding.
See hesitating.
See hoping.
See hurting.
See importing.
See imposing.
See improving.
See interesting.
See intermitting.
See intoxicating.
See inviting.
See jarring.
See laboring.
See lingering.
See listening.
See loving.
See meddling.
See meriting.
See mistrusting.
See moving.
See murmuring.
See obliging.
See observing.
See offending.
See opening.
See pardoning.
See paying.
See perceiving.
See performing.
See perishing.
See pitying.
See pleasing.
See possessing.
See preaching.
See prepossessing.
See presuming.
See pretending.
See prevailing.
See prevaricating.
See profiting.
See promising.
See proving.
See quailing.
See questioning.
See reasoning.
See recalling.
See reclining.
See recurring.
See referring.
See reflecting.
See refunding.
See refusing.
See rejoicing.
See relaxing.
See relishing.
See remembering.
See repenting.
See repining.
See reproving.
See repulsing.
See resisting.
See resolving.
See resting.
See returning.
See rewarding.
See sanctifying.
See satisfying.
See searching.
See seeing.
See setting.
See shrinking.
See sinking.
See sleeping.
See slipping.
See slumbering.
See speaking.
See stinting.
See stirring.
See stooping.
See submitting.
See sufficing.
See suiting.
See surging.
See suspecting.
See sweating.
See swerving.
See sympathizing.
See tasting.
See thriving.
See tiring.
See toiling.
See trading.
See trembling.
See trespassing.
See trifling.
See vacillating.
See varying.
See walking.
See wandering.
See waning.
See wasting.
See wavering.
See weeping.
See winking.
See winning.
See withdrawing.
See withering.
See wondering.
See working.
See writing.
See yielding.
----- and the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

The above classes of words are unlimited in extent, and such compounds may be formed by any writer or speaker at will from almost all the adjectives or participles in the language, excepting those which have a recognized and usual negative correspondent with the prefix -in. No attempt will be made, therefore, to define them all in this Dictionary; many will be omitted from its Vocabulary which are negations of the simple word, and are readily explained by prefixing a not to the latter. Derivatives of these words in -ly and -ness will also, for the most part, be omitted for the same or similar reasons. [ 1913 Webster ]

There will be inserted as separate articles with definitions, the following: -- [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Those which have acquired an opposed or contrary, instead of a merely negative, meaning; as, unfriendly, ungraceful, unpalatable, unquiet, and the like; or else an intensive sense more than a prefixed not would express; as, unending, unparalleled, undisciplined, undoubted, unsafe, and the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Those which have the value of independent words, inasmuch as the simple words are either not used at all, or are rarely, or at least much less frequently, used; as, unavoidable, unconscionable, undeniable, unspeakable, unprecedented, unruly, and the like; or inasmuch as they are used in a different sense from the usual meaning of the primitive, or especially in one of the significations of the latter; as, unaccountable, unalloyed, unbelieving, unpretending, unreserved, and the like; or inasmuch as they are so frequently and familiarly used that they are hardly felt to be of negative origin; as, uncertain, uneven, and the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Those which are anomalous, provincial, or, for some other reason, not desirable to be used, and are so indicated; as, unpure for impure, unsatisfaction for dissatisfaction, unexpressible for inexpressible, and the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

II. Un- is prefixed to nouns to express the absence of, or the contrary of, that which the noun signifies; as, unbelief, unfaith, unhealth, unrest, untruth, and the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Compounds of this last class are given in full in their proper order in the Vocabulary. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ AS. wæs, 2d pers. w&aemacr_;re, 3d pers. wæs, pl. w&aemacr_;ron, with the inf. wesan to be; akin to D. wezen, imp. was, OHG. wesan, imp. was, G. wesen, n., a being, essence, war was, Icel. vera to be, imp. var, Goth. wisan to be, to dwell, to remain, imp. was, Skr. vas to remain, to dwell. √148. Cf. Vernacular, Wassail, Were, v. ] The first and third persons singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, preterit (imperfect) tense; as, I was; he was. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Sw. vase a sheaf. ] A bundle of straw, or other material, to relieve the pressure of burdens carried upon the head. [ Prov. Eng. ] Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Washed p. pr. & vb. n. Washing. ] [ OE. waschen, AS. wascan; akin to D. wasschen, G. waschen, OHG. wascan, Icel. & Sw. vaska, Dan. vaske, and perhaps to E. water. √150. ] 1. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, . . . he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person. Matt. xxvii. 24. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fresh-blown roses washed with dew. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ The landscape ] washed with a cold, gray mist. Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To waste or abrade by the force of water in motion; as, heavy rains wash a road or an embankment. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins. Acts xxii. 16. [ 1913 Webster ]

The tide will wash you off. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To cover with a thin or watery coat of color; to tint lightly and thinly. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To overlay with a thin coat of metal; as, steel washed with silver. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To cause dephosphorisation of (molten pig iron) by adding substances containing iron oxide, and sometimes manganese oxide. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

8. To pass (a gas or gaseous mixture) through or over a liquid for the purpose of purifying it, esp. by removing soluble constituents. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

To wash gold, etc., to treat earth or gravel, or crushed ore, with water, in order to separate the gold or other metal, or metallic ore, through their higher density. --
To wash the hands of. See under Hand. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To perform the act of ablution. [ 1913 Webster ]

Wash in Jordan seven times. 2 Kings v. 10. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To clean anything by rubbing or dipping it in water; to perform the business of cleansing clothes, ore, etc., in water. “She can wash and scour.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To bear without injury the operation of being washed; as, some calicoes do not wash. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

4. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To use washes, as for the face or hair. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

6. To move with a lapping or swashing sound, or the like; to lap; splash; as, to hear the water washing. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

7. to be accepted as true or valid; to be proven true by subsequent evidence; -- usually used in the negative; as, his alibi won't wash. [ informal ] [ PJC ]

n. 1. The act of washing; an ablution; a cleansing, wetting, or dashing with water; hence, a quantity, as of clothes, washed at once. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. 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. “The Wash of Edmonton so gay.” Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

These Lincoln washes have devoured them. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Substances collected and deposited by the action of water; as, the wash of a sewer, of a river, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

The wash of pastures, fields, commons, and roads, where rain water hath a long time settled. Mortimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Waste liquid, the refuse of food, the collection from washed dishes, etc., from a kitchen, often used as food for pigs. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Distilling) (a) The fermented wort before the spirit is extracted. (b) A mixture of dunder, molasses, water, and scummings, used in the West Indies for distillation. B. Edwards. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. That with which anything is washed, or wetted, smeared, tinted, etc., upon the surface. Specifically: -- [ 1913 Webster ]

(a) A liquid cosmetic for the complexion. [ 1913 Webster ]

(b) A liquid dentifrice. [ 1913 Webster ]

(c) A liquid preparation for the hair; as, a hair wash. [ 1913 Webster ]

(d) A medical preparation in a liquid form for external application; a lotion. [ 1913 Webster ]

(e) (Painting) A thin coat of color, esp. water color. [ 1913 Webster ]

(j) A thin coat of metal applied in a liquid form on any object, for beauty or preservation; -- called also washing. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

7. (Naut.) (a) The blade of an oar, or the thin part which enters the water. (b) The backward current or disturbed water caused by the action of oars, or of a steamer's screw or paddles, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. The flow, swash, or breaking of a body of water, as a wave; also, the sound of it. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. Ten strikes, or bushels, of oysters. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

10. [ Western U. S. ] (Geol.) (a) Gravel and other rock débris transported and deposited by running water; coarse alluvium. (b) An alluvial cone formed by a stream at the base of a mountain. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

11. The dry bed of an intermittent stream, sometimes at the bottom of a canyon; as, the Amargosa wash, Diamond wash; -- called also dry wash. [ Western U. S. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

12. (Arch.) The upper surface of a member or material when given a slope to shed water. Hence, a structure or receptacle shaped so as to receive and carry off water, as a carriage wash in a stable. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

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

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

Wash ball, a ball of soap to be used in washing the hands or face. Swift. --
Wash barrel (Fisheries), a barrel nearly full of split mackerel, loosely put in, and afterward filled with salt water in order to soak the blood from the fish before salting. --
Wash bottle. (Chem.) (a) A bottle partially filled with some liquid through which gases are passed for the purpose of purifying them, especially by removing soluble constituents. (b) A washing bottle. See under Washing. --
Wash gilding. See Water gilding. --
Wash leather, split sheepskin dressed with oil, in imitation of chamois, or shammy, and used for dusting, cleaning glass or plate, etc.; also, alumed, or buff, leather for soldiers' belts. [ 1913 Webster ]