What does "wash" mean?
The process or an instance of washing or being washed by water or other liquid.
Wash
/wɒʃ/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The process or an instance of washing or being washed by water or other liquid.
- Grammar: wash is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: washing, ablution, abstergent, acrylic painting.
- Useful contrasts: italian valle soil, maculate, muddy.
- Usage evidence: Do you wash your hands before meals?
How to use "wash"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "wash" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "wash" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "wash" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "wash" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "wash" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "washing" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
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Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "wash", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The process or an instance of washing or being washed by water or other liquid. countable, uncountable
"I'm going to have a quick wash before coming to bed."
- 2 Acronym of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, uncountable
- 3 the work of cleansing (usually with soap and water) wordnet
- 4 A liquid used for washing. countable, uncountable
- 5 any enterprise in which losses and gains cancel out wordnet
Show 29 more definitions
- 6 A lotion or other liquid with medicinal or hygienic properties. countable, uncountable
"mouth wash"
- 7 garments or white goods that can be cleaned by laundering wordnet
- 8 The quantity of clothes washed at a time. countable, uncountable
"There's a lot in that wash: maybe you should split it into two piles."
- 9 a watercolor made by applying a series of monochrome washes one over the other wordnet
- 10 A smooth and translucent painting created using a paintbrush holding a large amount of solvent and a small amount of paint. countable, uncountable
- 11 a thin coat of water-base paint wordnet
- 12 The breaking of waves on the shore; the onwards rush of shallow water towards a beach. countable, uncountable
"I could hear the wash of the wave."
- 13 the dry bed of an intermittent stream (as at the bottom of a canyon) wordnet
- 14 The bow wave, wake, or vortex of an object moving in a fluid, in particular:; The bow wave or wake of a moving ship, or the vortex from its screws. countable, uncountable
"The ship left a big wash"
- 15 the flow of air that is driven backwards by an aircraft propeller wordnet
- 16 The bow wave, wake, or vortex of an object moving in a fluid, in particular:; The turbulence left in the air by a moving airplane. countable, uncountable
- 17 the erosive process of washing away soil or gravel by water (as from a roadway) wordnet
- 18 The bow wave, wake, or vortex of an object moving in a fluid, in particular:; The backward current or disturbed water caused by the action of oars, or of a steamer's screw or paddles, etc. countable, uncountable
- 19 The blade of an oar. countable, uncountable
- 20 Ground washed away to the sea or a river. countable, uncountable
"The wash of pastures, fields, commons, and roads, […]where rain water hath a long time settled."
- 21 A piece of ground washed by the action of water, or sometimes covered and sometimes left dry; the shallowest part of a river, or arm of the sea; also, a bog; a marsh. countable, uncountable
"These Lincoln washes have devoured them."
- 22 A shallow body of water. countable, uncountable
- 23 In arid and semi-arid regions, the normally dry bed of an intermittent or ephemeral stream; an arroyo or wadi. countable, uncountable
"1997, Stanley Desmond Smith, et al. Physiological Ecology of North American Desert Plants, Nature In some desert-wash systems (which have been termed “xero-riparian”)"
- 24 A situation in which losses and gains or advantages and disadvantages are equivalent; a situation in which there is no net change. countable, uncountable
"I knew that for every vote I cast for, say, the Republicans, some kid at a polling place nearby was casting his votes for the Democrats, so it was probably a wash or close to it."
- 25 A fictitious kind of sale of stock or other securities between parties of one interest, or by a broker who is both buyer and seller, and who minds his own interest rather than that of his clients. countable, slang, uncountable
- 26 Waste liquid, the refuse of food, the collection from washed dishes, etc., from a kitchen, often used as food for pigs; pigwash. countable, uncountable
- 27 In distilling, the fermented wort before the spirit is extracted. countable, uncountable
- 28 A mixture of dunder, molasses, water, and scummings, used in the West Indies for distillation. countable, uncountable
"In order to augment the vinosity of the wash, many substances are recommended by Dr. Shaw, such as tartar, nitre, common salt, and the vegetable or mineral acids."
- 29 A thin coat of paint or metal laid on anything for beauty or preservation. countable, uncountable
- 30 Ten strikes, or bushels, of oysters. countable, uncountable
- 31 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. countable, uncountable
"a carriage wash in a stable"
- 32 A lighting effect that fills a scene with a chosen colour. countable, uncountable
- 33 A lighting fixture that can cast a wide beam of light to evenly fill an area with light, as opposed to a spotlight. countable, uncountable
- 34 A total failure; a washout. countable, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To clean with water. transitive
"The car is so dirty, we need to wash it."
- 2 to cleanse (itself or another animal) by licking wordnet
- 3 To carry away or erode by the force of water in motion. transitive
"Don't pour that in the drain; it will wash downstream."
- 4 cleanse (one's body) with soap and water wordnet
- 5 To be eroded or carried away by the action of water. intransitive
Show 23 more definitions
- 6 wash or flow against wordnet
- 7 To clean oneself with water. intransitive
"I wash every morning after getting up."
- 8 make moist wordnet
- 9 To cover with water or any liquid; to wet; to fall on and moisten. transitive
"Waves wash the shore."
- 10 form by erosion wordnet
- 11 To move with a lapping or swashing sound; to lap or splash. intransitive
"to hear the water washing"
- 12 wash by removing particles wordnet
- 13 To be cogent, convincing; to withstand critique. figuratively, intransitive
"“And then, how could he know it was her coffee? No, old fellow, I don’t think that will wash.”"
- 14 remove by the application of water or other liquid and soap or some other cleaning agent wordnet
- 15 To bear without damage the operation of being washed; to be suitable for washing. intransitive
"Some calicoes do not wash."
- 16 apply a thin coating of paint, metal, etc., to wordnet
- 17 To cover with a thin or watery coat of colour; to tint lightly and thinly. transitive
- 18 clean with some chemical process wordnet
- 19 To overlay with a thin coat of metal. transitive
"steel washed with silver"
- 20 cleanse with a cleaning agent, such as soap, and water wordnet
- 21 To pass or extract (a gas or gaseous mixture) through or over a liquid for the purpose of purifying it, especially by removing soluble constituents. transitive
"Aqueous washings are done to remove water soluble impurities from organic products since normally the compound that you desire will be dissolved in the organic layer […]"
- 22 separate dirt or gravel from (precious minerals) wordnet
- 23 To separate valuable material (such as gold) from worthless material by the action of flowing water.
- 24 move by or as if by water wordnet
- 25 To cause dephosphorization of (molten pig iron) by adding substances containing iron oxide, and sometimes manganese oxide. transitive
- 26 admit to testing or proof wordnet
- 27 To mix up tiles (before a new game) to make them random; to shuffle.
- 28 be capable of being washed wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A bay with multiple estuaries of great ecological importance in eastern England, dividing Lincolnshire from Norfolk.
- 2 A diminutive of the male given name Washington.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"Do you wash your hands before meals?"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "wash"?
Common synonyms include: washing, ablution, abstergent, acrylic painting, airstream, apply paint.
How do you use "wash" in a sentence?
Do you wash your hands before meals?
How do you pronounce "wash"?
Pronounced /wɒʃ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English wasshen, waschen, weschen, from Old English wascan, from Proto-West Germanic *waskan, from Proto-Germanic *waskaną, *watskaną (“to wash, get wet”), from Proto-Indo-European *wed- (“wet; water”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian waaske (“to wash”), West Frisian waskje (“to wash”), Dutch wassen, wasschen (“to wash”), Low German waschen (“to wash”), German waschen (“to wash”), Danish vaske (“to wash”), Norwegian Bokmål vaske (“to wash”), Swedish vaska (“to wash”), Icelandic vaska (“to wash”).
Etymology 2
Possibilities are discussed at The Wash § History.
Etymology 3
Clipping of Washington.