- (n.) 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.
- (n.) An alluvial cone formed by a stream at the base of a mountain.
- (v.i.) To use washes, as for the face or hair.
- (v.i.) To move with a lapping or swashing sound or the like; to lap; splash; as, to hear the water washing.
- (n.) Gravel and other rock debris transported and deposited by running water; coarse alluvium.
- (v.t.) To cause dephosphorisation of (molten pig iron) by adding substances containing iron oxide, and sometimes manganese oxide.
- (v.t.) To pass (a gas or gaseous mixture) through or over a liquid for the purpose of purifying it, especially by removing soluble constituents.
- (n.) The dry bed of an intermittent stream, sometimes at the bottom of a caon; as, the Amargosa wash, Diamond wash; -- called also dry wash.
- (n.) The blade of an oar or the thin part which enters the water.
- (n.) A thin coat of color, especially water color.
- (v.t.) 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.
- (v.t.) To waste or abrade by the force of water in motion; as, heavy rains wash a road or an embankment.
- (n.) A medical preparation in a liquid form for external application; a lotion.
- (v.i.) 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.
- (a.) Capable of being washed without injury; washable; as, wash goods.
- (n.) Ten strikes or bushels, of oysters.
- (n.) Waste liquid, the refuse of food, the collection from washed dishes, etc., from a kitchen, often used as food for pigs.
- (n.) A liquid preparation for the hair; as, a hair wash.
- (a.) Washy; weak.
- (n.) Substances collected and deposited by the action of water; as, the wash of a sewer, of a river, etc.
- (n.) The flow, swash or breaking of a body of water, as a wave; also, the sound of it.
- (v.t.) To overlay with a thin coat of metal; as, steel washed with silver.
- (n.) A liquid cosmetic for the complexion.
- (n.) The backward current or disturbed water caused by the action of oars or of a steamer's screw or paddles, etc.
- (n.) A mixture of dunder, molasses, water, and scummings, used in the West Indies for distillation.
- (n.) A liquid dentifrice.
- (v.t.) 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.
- (n.) 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.
- (v.i.) To clean anything by rubbing or dipping it in water; to perform the business of cleansing clothes, ore, etc., in water.
- (v.t.) To cover with a thin or watery coat of color; to tint lightly and thinly.
- (n.) That with which anything is washed or wetted, smeared, tinted, etc., upon the surface.
- (n.) The fermented wort before the spirit is extracted.
- (v.t.) 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.
- (v.i.) To bear without injury the operation of being washed; as, some calicoes do not wash.
- (v.i.) To perform the act of ablution.
- (n.) The act of washing; an ablution; a cleansing, wetting or dashing with water; hence, a quantity, as of clothes, washed at once.
- (n.) A thin coat of metal laid on anything for beauty or preservation.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
| APA | Webster's. (2011). wash. Retrieved September 22, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/wash/definitions/2080758 |
| Chicago | Webster's. 2011. "wash" http://smartdefine.org/wash/definitions/2080758 (accessed September 22, 2026). |
| Harvard | Webster's 2011, wash, Smart Define, viewed 22 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/wash/definitions/2080758>. |
| MLA | Webster's. "wash" 28 May 2011. Web. 22 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/wash/definitions/2080758> |