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verb Wash v. t. (past & past part. washed; pres. part. washing) 1.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. "When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing,... he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person." 2.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. "Fresh-blown roses washed with dew." "(The landscape) washed with a cold, gray mist." 3.To waste or abrade by the force of water in motion; as, heavy rains wash a road or an embankment. 4.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. "Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins." "The tide will wash you off." 5.To cover with a thin or watery coat of color; to tint lightly and thinly. 6.To overlay with a thin coat of metal; as, steel washed with silver. 7.To cause dephosphorisation of (molten pig iron) by adding substances containing iron oxide, and sometimes manganese oxide. 8.To pass (a gas or gaseous mixture) through or over a liquid for the purpose of purifying it, esp. by removing soluble constituents. To wash gold, etc., to treat earth or gravel, or crushed ore, with water, in order to separate the gold or other metal, or metallic ore, through their higher density. To wash the hands of. See under Hand.
Wash v. i. 1.To perform the act of ablution. "Wash in Jordan seven times." 2.To clean anything by rubbing or dipping it in water; to perform the business of cleansing clothes, ore, etc., in water. "She can wash and scour." 3.To bear without injury the operation of being washed; as, some calicoes do not wash. (Colloq.) 4.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. 5.To use washes, as for the face or hair. 6.To move with a lapping or swashing sound, or the like; to lap; splash; as, to hear the water washing. 7.To be accepted as true or valid; to be proven true by subsequent evidence; usually used in the negative; as, his alibi won't wash. (informal)
noun Washing n. 1.The act of one who washes; the act of cleansing with water; ablution. 2.The clothes washed, esp. at one time; a wash. 3.(Mining) Gold dust procured by washing; also, a place where this is done; a washery. 4.A thin covering or coat; as, a washing of silver. 5.(Stock Exchanges) The operation of simultaneously buying and selling the same stock for the purpose of manipulating the market. The transaction is fictitious, and is prohibited by stock-exchange rules. 6.(Pottery) The covering of a piece with an infusible powder, which prevents it from sticking to its supports, while receiving the glaze. Washing bear (Zool.), the raccoon. Washing bottle (Chem.), a bottle fitted with glass tubes passing through the cork, so that on blowing into one of the tubes a stream of water issuing from the other may be directed upon anything to be washed or rinsed, as a precipitate upon a filter, etc. Washing fluid, a liquid used as a cleanser, and consisting usually of alkaline salts resembling soaps in their action. Washing machine, a machine for washing; specifically, a machine for washing clothes. Washing soda. (Chem.) See Sodium carbonate, under Sodium. Washing stuff, any earthy deposit containing gold enough to pay for washing it; so called among gold miners.
Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48
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