*wash*

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. 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. 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. 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 ]

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 ]

v. t. To overflow. Holinshed. [ 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. 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. Not washed or cleansed; filthy; unclean. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ 1913 Webster ]

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

a. 1. Washy; weak. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Their bodies of so weak and wash a temper. Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Capable of being washed without injury; washable; as, wash goods. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being washed without damage to fabric or color. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A fluted, or ribbed, board on which clothes are rubbed in washing them. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A board running round, and serving as a facing for, the walls of a room, next to the floor; a mopboard. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Naut.) A broad, thin plank, fixed along the gunwale of boat to keep the sea from breaking inboard; also, a plank on the sill of a lower deck port, for the same purpose; -- called also wasteboard. Mar. Dict. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A basin, or bowl, to hold water for washing one's hands, face, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A washbowl. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) Same as Washerwoman, 2. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Art) In water-color painting, work in, or a work done chiefly in, washes, as distinguished from that done in stipple, in body color, etc. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. (Zool.) Appearing as if overlaid with a thin layer of different color; -- said of the colors of certain birds and insects. [ 1913 Webster ]

. Same as Wash sale. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

obs. p. p. of Wash. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

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

2. A ring of metal, leather, or other material, or a perforated plate, used for various purposes, as around a bolt or screw to form a seat for the head or nut, or around a wagon axle to prevent endwise motion of the hub of the wheel and relieve friction, or in a joint to form a packing, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Plumbing) A fitting, usually having a plug, applied to a cistern, tub, sink, or the like, and forming the outlet opening. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Zool.) The common raccoon. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Zool.) Same as Washerwoman, 2. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Washermen A man who washes clothes, esp. for hire, or for others. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Washerwomen [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A woman who washes clothes, especially for hire, or for others. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) The pied wagtail; -- so called in allusion to its beating the water with its tail while tripping along the leaves of water plants. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An outbuilding for washing, esp. one for washing clothes; a laundry. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being washy, watery, or weak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of one who washes; the act of cleansing with water; ablution. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The clothes washed, esp. at one time; a wash. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Mining) Gold dust procured by washing; also, a place where this is done; a washery. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

4. A thin covering or coat; as, a washing of silver. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

5. (Stock Exchanges) The operation of simultaneously buying and selling the same stock for the purpose of manipulating the market. The transaction is fictitious, and is prohibited by stock-exchange rules. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

6. (Pottery) The covering of a piece with an infusible powder, which prevents it from sticking to its supports, while receiving the glaze. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

Washing bear (Zool.), the raccoon. --
Washing bottle (Chem.), a bottle fitted with glass tubes passing through the cork, so that on blowing into one of the tubes a stream of water issuing from the other may be directed upon anything to be washed or rinsed, as a precipitate upon a filter, etc. --
Washing fluid, a liquid used as a cleanser, and consisting usually of alkaline salts resembling soaps in their action. --
Washing machine, a machine for washing; specifically, a machine for washing clothes. --
Washing soda. (Chem.) See Sodium carbonate, under Sodium. --
Washing stuff, any earthy deposit containing gold enough to pay for washing it; -- so called among gold miners. [ 1913 Webster ]