Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The act or process of one that washes.
  • noun Articles washed or intended to be washed at one time.
  • noun The residue after an ore or other material has been washed.
  • noun The liquid used to wash something.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The purification of molten cast-iron by additions to the bath of metal in the hearth of a furnace; specifically the oxidization of phosphorus and sulphur by the addition of ores of pure oxid of iron, or those that contain manganese oxid.
  • noun The act of cleansing with water; ablution.
  • noun Clothes washed, especially those washed at one time: awash.
  • noun 3. The result of washing; that which is washed from something else, as gold dust.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act of one who washes; the act of cleansing with water; ablution.
  • noun The clothes washed, esp. at one time; a wash.
  • noun (Mining) Gold dust procured by washing; also, a place where this is done; a washery.
  • noun A thin covering or coat.
  • noun (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.
  • noun (Pottery) The covering of a piece with an infusible powder, which prevents it from sticking to its supports, while receiving the glaze.
  • noun (Zoöl.) the raccoon.
  • noun (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.
  • noun a liquid used as a cleanser, and consisting usually of alkaline salts resembling soaps in their action.
  • noun a machine for washing; specifically, a machine for washing clothes.
  • noun (Chem.) See Sodium carbonate, under Sodium.
  • noun any earthy deposit containing gold enough to pay for washing it; -- so called among gold miners.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable The action of the verb to wash
  • noun uncountable, chiefly UK, New Zealand Clothing, bed linen or soft furnishings that have been, are currently being, or are to be washed; laundry.
  • noun countable, often in the plural The residue after an ore, etc, has been washed
  • noun the liquid used to wash an ore
  • verb Present participle of wash.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun garments or white goods that can be cleaned by laundering
  • noun the work of cleansing (usually with soap and water)

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word washing.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Down in our cellar on a Monday and a Tuesday,

    You should hear the slapping and rubbing and the muttering,

    You should see the bubbles and the steaming and the splashing.

    The dark clothes dripping and the white clothes fluttering,

    Where old Ellen Sullivan,

    Cross Ellen Sullivan,

    Kind Ellen Sullivan,

    Is washing and ironing, and ironing and washing.

    - Winifred Welles, 'Old Ellen Sullivan'.

    November 30, 2008