washing

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)