/ wɒʃ; NAmE wɑːʃ; wɔːʃ/ verb , noun
■ verb
1.
to make sth/sb clean using water and usually soap :
[ vn ]
These jeans need washing.
to wash the car
to wash your hands
Wash the fruit thoroughly before eating.
She washed the blood from his face.
[ vn - adj ]
The beach had been washed clean by the tide.
➡ note at clean
2.
wash (yourself) ( especially BrE ) to make yourself clean using water and usually soap :
[ v ]
I washed and changed before going out.
[ vn ]
She was no longer able to wash herself.
3.
[ v ] ( of clothes, cloth, etc. ) to be able to be washed without losing colour or being damaged :
This sweater washes well.
4.
[usually + adv. / prep. ] ( of water ) to flow or carry sth/sb in a particular direction :
[ v ]
Water washed over the deck.
[ vn ]
Pieces of the wreckage were washed ashore .
He was washed overboard by a huge wave.
•
IDIOMS
- wash your dirty linen in public
- wash your hands of sb/sth
- sth won't / doesn't wash (with sb)
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- wash sb/sth away
- wash sth down (with sth)
- wash off
- wash sth off (sth)
- wash out
- wash sth out
- wash over sb
- wash up
- wash sth up
■ noun
1.
[ C , usually sing. ] ( especially BrE ) an act of cleaning sb/sth using water and usually soap :
These towels are ready for a wash.
I'll just have a quick wash before dinner.
I'm doing a dark wash (= washing all the dark clothes together) .
Your shirt's in the wash (= being washed or waiting to be washed) .
My sweater shrank in the wash.
That blouse shouldn't look like that after only two washes.
—see also car wash
2.
the wash [ sing. ] an area of water that has waves and is moving a lot, especially after a boat has moved through it; the sound made by this :
The dinghy was rocked by the wash of a passing ferry.
They listened to the wash of waves on the beach.
3.
[ C ] a thin layer of a liquid, especially paint, that is put on a surface :
The walls were covered with a pale yellow wash.
—see also whitewash
4.
[ C , U ] a liquid containing soap, used for cleaning your skin :
an antiseptic skin wash
—see also mouthwash
•
IDIOMS
- it will (all) come out in the wash
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English wæscan (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch wassen , German waschen , also to water .