washout

noun washouts · wash-out

1. countable, uncountable An act of washing or cleaning the inside of something. No. 21C9 was in need of a boiler washout and though she was carefully and assiduously fired and use made of the fire-irons during the run, it was not possible to maintain steam, which often fell as low as 210 lb.
2. countable, uncountable An appliance designed to wash out the inside of something. The cistern was fitted with washouts and air-valves.
3. countable, uncountable The erosion of a relatively soft surface by a sudden gush of water; also, a channel produced by this action.
4. countable, uncountable A breach in a railway or road caused by flooding. In a message to NR [National Rail] staff on August 14, Haines said: "It's not just Scotland impacted by extreme wet weather. This week we have seen, and will continue to see, heavy rain fall. This has caused washouts and landslips across the length and breadth of Great Britain."

   Similar: washaway

5. countable, slang, uncountable A sporting fixture or other event that cannot be completed because of rain. The Austin picnic was a washout, rained all day.

   Similar: rainout

6. countable, slang, uncountable An overwhelming victory; a landslide. Illawarra turns blue in Liberal washout [title]
7. countable, slang, uncountable A total failure; a disappointment. "I thought you was goin' into the business yourself." / "That's a wash-out," snarled Silas. "Don't you talk of it. It's finished."
8. countable, slang, uncountable An unsuccessful person. As an actor he was a complete washout, so he went back to accounting.
9. countable, uncountable The aerodynamic effect of a small twist in the shape of an aircraft wing.
10. UK, countable, uncountable A destroyed aeroplane.
11. UK, countable, uncountable A trainee who drops out of a training programme.
12. countable, uncountable A period between clinical treatments in which any medication delivered as the first treatment is allowed to be eliminated from a person's body before the second treatment begins.
13. also, countable, uncountable The cleaning of matter from a physiological system using a fluid; also, the fluid used for such cleaning; or the matter cleaned out from the system. a bladder washout
14. countable, uncountable The action whereby falling rainwater cleans particles from the air.
15. countable, uncountable A place in a mine where ore has been washed away by a flow of water.