washed


Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Financial, Idioms, Encyclopedia.
Related to washed: washed out, washed up

wash

 (wŏsh, wôsh)
v. washed, wash·ing, wash·es
v.tr.
1.
a. To cleanse, using water or other liquid, usually with soap, detergent, or bleach, by immersing, dipping, rubbing, or scrubbing: wash one's hands; wash windows.
b. To soak, rinse out, and remove (dirt or stain) with water or other liquid: wash grease out of overalls.
2. To make moist or wet; drench: Tears washed the child's cheeks.
3. To flow over, against, or past: waves that washed the sandy shores.
4. To carry, erode, remove, or destroy by the action of moving water: Heavy rains washed the topsoil away.
5. To rid of corruption or guilt; cleanse or purify: wash sins away.
6. To cover or coat with a watery layer of paint or other coloring substance.
7. Chemistry
a. To purify (a gas) by passing through or over a liquid, as to remove soluble matter.
b. To pass a solvent, such as distilled water, through (a precipitate).
8. To separate constituents of (an ore) by immersion in or agitation with water.
9. To cause to undergo a swirling action: washed the tea around in the cup.
v.intr.
1. To cleanse something in or by means of water or other liquid.
2.
a. To undergo washing without fading or other damage: This fabric will wash.
b. Informal To hold up under examination; be convincing: His story will not wash with the police.
3. To flow, sweep, or beat with a characteristic lapping sound: Waves washed over the pilings.
4. To be carried away, removed, or drawn by the action of water.
n.
1. The act or process of washing or cleansing.
2. A quantity of articles washed or intended for washing: The wash is on the back porch.
3. Waste liquid; swill.
4. Fermented liquid from which liquor is distilled.
5. A preparation or product used in washing or coating.
6. A cosmetic or medicinal liquid, such as a mouthwash.
7.
a. A thin layer of watercolor or India ink spread on a drawing.
b. A light tint or hue: "a wash of red sunset" (Thomas Pynchon).
8.
a. A rush or surge of water or waves.
b. The sound of this rush or surge.
9.
a. Removal or erosion of soil by the action of moving water.
b. A deposit of recently eroded debris.
10.
a. Low or marshy ground washed by tidal waters.
b. A stretch of shallow water.
11. Western US The dry bed of a stream.
12. Turbulence in air or water caused by the motion or action of an oar, propeller, jet, or airfoil.
13. Informal An activity, action, or enterprise that yields neither marked gain nor marked loss: "[The company] doesn't do badly. That is, it's a wash" (Harper's).
adj.
1. Used for washing.
2. Being such that washing is possible; washable.
Phrasal Verbs:
wash down
1. To clean by washing with water from top to bottom: wash down the walls.
2. To follow the ingestion of (food, for example) with the ingestion of a liquid: washed the cake down with coffee.
wash out
1.
a. To remove or be removed by washing.
b. To cause to fade by laundering: color that had been washed out by bleach.
2. To carry or wear away or be carried or worn away by the action of moving water: The river rose and washed out the dam. The road has washed out five miles down the mountain.
3. To deplete or become depleted of vitality: By evening, I was washed out from overwork.
4. To eliminate or be eliminated as unsatisfactory: a football player who was washed out; an officer candidate who washed out after one month.
5. To cause (an event) to be rained out.
wash up
1. To wash one's hands.
2. Chiefly British To wash dishes after a meal.
3. To burn out; exhaust: all washed up as a politician.
Idioms:
come out in the wash Slang
1. To be revealed eventually: The real reasons for her resignation will come out in the wash.
2. To turn out well in the end: Don't worry; this project will come out in the wash.
wash (one's) hands of
1. To refuse to accept responsibility for: He washed his hands of the matter.
2. To abandon; renounce: They have washed their hands of him.

[Middle English washen, from Old English wacsan, wæscan; see wed- in Indo-European roots.]

Wash

 (wŏsh, wôsh)
An inlet of the North Sea off east-central England. The Wash has a dredged ship channel that leads to King's Lynn.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.washed - clean by virtue of having been washed in water
clean - free from dirt or impurities; or having clean habits; "children with clean shining faces"; "clean white shirts"; "clean dishes"; "a spotlessly clean house"; "cats are clean animals"
2.washed - wet as from washingwashed - wet as from washing; sometimes used in combination; "rain-washed"
wet - covered or soaked with a liquid such as water; "a wet bathing suit"; "wet sidewalks"; "wet weather"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
Collins Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
References in classic literature ?
I still reflect with pride, however, that even at that early age I washed when I got up.
After they had washed them and got them quite clean, they laid them out by the sea side, where the waves had raised a high beach of shingle, and set about washing themselves and anointing themselves with olive oil.
At length the damsel with the jug returned and they made an end of washing Don Quixote, and the one who carried the towels very deliberately wiped him and dried him; and all four together making him a profound obeisance and curtsey, they were about to go, when the duke, lest Don Quixote should see through the joke, called out to the one with the basin saying, "Come and wash me, and take care that there is water enough." The girl, sharp-witted and prompt, came and placed the basin for the duke as she had done for Don Quixote, and they soon had him well soaped and washed, and having wiped him dry they made their obeisance and retired.
Somewhere, stored away in the recesses of his mind and vaguely remembered, was the impression that there were people who washed their teeth every day.
WE stayed two days at Streatley, and got our clothes washed. We had tried washing them ourselves, in the river, under George's superintendence, and it had been a failure.
This they claimed was ten ounces; but when they filled a pan of dirt to prove the lie, they washed out twelve ounces.
Anne could evidently be smart so some purpose for she was down-stairs in ten minutes' time, with her clothes neatly on, her hair brushed and braided, her face washed, and a comfortable consciousness pervading her soul that she had fulfilled all Marilla's requirements.
Jones immediately complied, threw off his coat, went down to the water, and washed both his face and bosom; for the latter was as much exposed and as bloody as the former.
"Well now, good-bye, or you'll never get washed, and I shall have on my conscience the worst sin a gentleman can commit.
They slept on the same cushion with their paws about each other, and gravely washed each other's faces.
Whenever my missionaries overcame a knight errant on the road they washed him, and when he got well they swore him to go and get a bulletin-board and dis- seminate soap and civilization the rest of his days.
It was fine washing, and he washed fine and finer, with a keen scrutiny and delicate and fastidious touch.