wash definition

1. a thin coat of water-base paint
2. the work of cleansing (usually with soap and water)
3. the dry bed of an intermittent stream (as at the bottom of a canyon)
4. the erosive process of washing away soil or gravel by water (as from a roadway)
• examples: from the house they watched the washout of their newly seeded lawn by the water
5. a watercolor made by applying a series of monochrome washes one over the other
6. any enterprise in which losses and gains cancel out
• examples: at the end of the year the accounting department showed that it was a wash
7. clean with some chemical process
8. cleanse (one's body) with soap and water
9. cleanse with a cleaning agent, such as soap, and water
• examples: Wash the towels, please!
10. move by or as if by water
• examples: The swollen river washed away the footbridge
11. be capable of being washed
• examples: Does this material wash?
12. admit to testing or proof
• examples: This silly excuse won't wash in traffic court
13. separate dirt or gravel from (precious minerals)
14. apply a thin coating of paint, metal, etc., to
15. remove by the application of water or other liquid and soap or some other cleaning agent
• examples: he washed the dirt from his coat
• examples: The nurse washed away the blood
• examples: Can you wash away the spots on the windows?
• examples: he managed to wash out the stains
16. form by erosion
• examples: The river washed a ravine into the mountainside
17. to cleanse (itself or another animal) by licking
• examples: The cat washes several times a day