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wash

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wash¹

  • /wɒʃ/ UK
  • /wɛʃ/ Northumbria, UK
  • /wɑʃ/ US
  • /wɔʃ/ US, dialectal
  • /wɔɹʃ/ US, dialectal
  • /wæʃ/ obsolete

Rhymes with -ɒʃ, -ɑːʃ, -ɔː(ɹ)ʃ

Where it comes from

From Middle English wasshen, waschen (“to wash”), from Old English wascan (“to wash”), from Proto-West Germanic *waskan (“to wash”), from Proto-Germanic *waskaną, *watskaną (“to wash, get wet”), from Proto-Indo-European *wed- (“wet, water”).

Cognate with Saterland Frisian waaske (“to wash”), West Frisian waskje (“to wash”), Dutch wassen, wasschen (“to wash”), Low German waschen (“to wash”), German waschen (“to wash”), Danish vaske (“to wash”), Faroese and Icelandic vaska (“to wash”), Norwegian Bokmål vaske (“to wash”), Norwegian Nynorsk vaske, vaska (“to wash”), Swedish vaska (“to wash”).

The noun is cognate with Saterland Frisian Waaske (“wash”), West Frisian wask (“wash”), Dutch was (“wash”), Low German Wask, Waske (“wash”), German Wäsche (“wash”), Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish vask (“wash”).

verb washes · washing · washed · washen · wash

  1. transitive To clean with water. The car is so dirty, we need to wash it.
  2. transitive To carry away or erode by the force of water in motion. Don't pour that in the drain; it will wash downstream.
  3. intransitive To be eroded or carried away by the action of water.
  4. intransitive To clean oneself with water. I wash every morning after getting up.
  5. transitive To cover with water or any liquid; to wet; to fall on and moisten. Waves wash the shore.
  6. intransitive To move with a lapping or swashing sound; to lap or splash. to hear the water washing
  7. intransitive To withstand being washed without impairment, as clothing, especially dyed clothing.
  8. figuratively, intransitive, in the negative To be cogent, convincing; to withstand critique. “And then, how could he know it was her coffee? No, old fellow, I don’t think that will wash.”
  9. intransitive To bear without damage the operation of being washed; to be suitable for washing. Some calicoes do not wash.
  10. transitive To cover with a thin or watery coat of colour; to tint lightly and thinly.
  11. transitive To overlay with a thin coat of metal. steel washed with silver
  12. transitive To pass or extract (a gas or gaseous mixture) through or over a liquid for the purpose of purifying it, especially by removing soluble constituents. Aqueous washings are done to remove water soluble impurities from organic products since normally the compound that you desire will be dissolved in the organic layer[…]
  13. To separate valuable material (such as gold) from worthless material by the action of flowing water.
  14. transitive To cause dephosphorization of (molten pig iron) by adding substances containing iron oxide, and sometimes manganese oxide.
  15. To mix up tiles (before a new game) to make them random; to shuffle.

noun washes

  1. countable, uncountable The process or an instance of washing or being washed by water or other liquid. I'm going to have a quick wash before coming to bed.
  2. countable, uncountable A liquid used for washing.
  3. countable, uncountable A lotion or other liquid with medicinal or hygienic properties. mouth wash
  4. countable, uncountable The quantity of clothes washed at a time. There's a lot in that wash: maybe you should split it into two piles.
  5. countable, uncountable A smooth and translucent painting created using a paintbrush holding a large amount of solvent and a small amount of paint.
  6. countable, uncountable The breaking of waves on the shore; the onwards rush of shallow water towards a beach. I could hear the wash of the wave.
  7. countable, uncountable The bow wave or wake of a moving ship, or the vortex from its screws. The ship left a big wash
  8. countable, uncountable The turbulence left in the air by a moving airplane.
  9. countable, uncountable The backward current or disturbed water caused by the action of oars, or of a steamer's screw or paddles, etc.
  10. countable, uncountable The blade of an oar.
  11. countable, uncountable Ground washed away to the sea or a river. The wash of pastures, fields, commons, and roads, […]where rain water hath a long time settled.
  12. countable, uncountable A piece of ground washed by the action of water, or sometimes covered and sometimes left dry; the shallowest part of a river, or arm of the sea; also, a bog; a marsh. These Lincoln washes have devoured them.
  13. countable, uncountable A shallow body of water.
  14. countable, uncountable In arid and semi-arid regions, the normally dry bed of an intermittent or ephemeral stream. Near-synonyms: arroyo, wadi, nahal (synonymous other than regiolectal specificity)

    Similar: dry wash, arroyo, wadi, nahal

  15. countable, idiomatic, uncountable A situation in which gains and losses or advantages and disadvantages are equivalent, or in which there is no net change. I knew that for every vote I cast for, say, the Republicans, some kid at a polling place nearby was casting his votes for the Democrats, so it was probably a wash or close to it.
  16. countable, slang, uncountable A fictitious kind of sale of stock or other securities between parties of one interest, or by a broker who is both buyer and seller, and who minds his own interest rather than that of his clients.
  17. countable, uncountable Waste liquid, the refuse of food, the collection from washed dishes, etc., from a kitchen, often used as food for pigs; pigwash.
  18. countable, uncountable In distilling, the fermented wort before the spirit is extracted.
  19. countable, uncountable A mixture of dunder, molasses, water, and scummings, used in the West Indies for distillation. In order to augment the vinosity of the wash, many substances are recommended by Dr. Shaw, such as tartar, nitre, common salt, and the vegetable or mineral acids.
  20. countable, uncountable A thin coat of paint or metal laid on anything for beauty or preservation.
  21. countable, uncountable Ten strikes, or bushels, of oysters.
  22. countable, uncountable 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. a carriage wash in a stable
  23. countable, uncountable A lighting effect that fills a scene with a chosen colour.
  24. countable, uncountable A lighting fixture that can cast a wide beam of light to evenly fill an area with light, as opposed to a spotlight.
  25. countable, uncountable A total failure; a washout.

WASH²

noun

  1. abbreviation, acronym, uncountable Acronym of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene.

Wash³

Where it comes from

Possibilities are discussed at The Wash § History.

proper noun

  1. with the A bay with multiple estuaries of great ecological importance in eastern England, dividing Lincolnshire from Norfolk.

Wash⁴

Where it comes from

Clipping of Washington.

proper noun

  1. A diminutive of the male given name Washington.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: rinse, wash away, laundry, lave, launder, moisten, dampen, dry wash, airstream, slipstream, backwash, race, wash-off, wash drawing, washables, rinsing

Translations

Every language

verb to clean with water — see also deterge

Españollavar
한국어씻다 ssitda
日本語洗う arau
中文洗 xǐ, 洗滌 /洗涤 xǐdí, 沖洗 /冲洗 chōngxǐ
हिन्दीधोना dhonā
Kiswahili-osha, -fua, -nawa
Portuguêslavar
Françaislaver
Deutschwaschen, spülen
Italianolavare
Ελληνικάπλένω pléno
Românăspăla
Русскиймыть mytʹ, помы́ть pomýtʹ, вы́мыть výmytʹ, стира́ть stirátʹ, постира́ть postirátʹ
Tiếng Việtrửa, giặt
العربيةغَسَلَ ḡasala
עבריתרָחַץ rakháts, שָׁטַף shatáf

verb to move or erode by the force of water in motion

Españolarrastrar
中文沖走 /冲走 chōngzǒu
Deutschwegspülen
Русскийсмыва́ть smyvátʹ, смыть smytʹ

verb to be eroded or carried away

Русскийразмыва́ться razmyvátʹsja, размы́ться razmýtʹsja

verb to clean oneself

Españollavarse
日本語洗面する senmen suru
Kiswahili-oga
Portuguêslavar-se
Françaisse laver, faire sa toilette
Deutschsich waschen
Italianolavarsi
Ελληνικάπλένομαι plénomai
Русскиймы́ться mýtʹsja, помы́ться pomýtʹsja, вы́мыться výmytʹsja, умыва́ться umyvátʹsja, умы́ться umýtʹsja

verb to cover with liquid; to wet, moisten

Ελληνικάβρέχω vrécho

verb mining: to separate valuable material

Españollavar
Русскийпромыва́ть promyvátʹ, промы́ть promýtʹ

noun process or an instance of washing or being washed by water

Españollavado
日本語洗浄 senjou, 洗濯 sentaku
Portuguêslavagem
Françaislavage
DeutschWäsche
Русскиймытьё mytʹjó, сти́рка stírka

noun lotion

Españolenjuague
Русскийлосьо́н losʹón, полоска́ние poloskánije

noun clothes washed at a time

Françaismachine
Русскийбельё belʹjó

noun painting

DeutschLavierung

noun sound of breaking seas

Русскийприбо́й pribój

noun wake of a ship

Русскийпопу́тная струя́ popútnaja strujá, кильва́тер kilʹváter

noun shallow body of water

Русскиймелково́дье melkovódʹje

noun normally dry bed of an intermittent or ephemeral stream

Françaisoeud

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Cite this
MLA

"wash." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/wash. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

wash. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/wash

Chicago

"wash." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/wash.

BibTeX
@misc{wash_2026,
  title = {wash},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/wash},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}