Adjacent Words

Washing definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

WASHING, ppr. Cleansing with water; purifying; overflowing; overspreading.
WASHING, n.
1. The act of cleansing with water; ablution. Hebrews 9.
2. A wash; or the clothes washed.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the work of cleansing (usually with soap and water) [syn: wash, washing, lavation]
2: garments or white goods that can be cleaned by laundering [syn: laundry, wash, washing, washables]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 13th century 1. the act or action of one that cleanses with water 2. material obtained by washing 3. articles washed or to be washed ; wash

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. a quantity of clothes for washing or just washed. Phrases and idioms: washing-machine a machine for washing clothes and linen etc. washing-powder powder of soap or detergent for washing clothes. washing-soda sodium carbonate, used dissolved in water for washing and cleaning. washing-up Brit. 1 the process of washing dishes etc. after use. 2 used dishes etc. for washing.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wash Wash (w[o^]sh), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Washed (w[o^]sht); p. pr. & vb. n. Washing.] [OE. waschen, AS. wascan; akin to D. wasschen, G. waschen, OHG. wascan, Icel. & Sw. vaska, Dan. vaske, and perhaps to E. water. [root]150.] 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. --Matt. xxvii. 24. 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. --Milton. [The landscape] washed with a cold, gray mist. --Longfellow. 3. To waste or abrade by the force of water in motion; as, heavy rains wash a road or an embankment.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Washing Wash"ing, 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. Washing bear (Zo["o]l.), 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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Washing Wash"ing, n. 1. (Mining) Gold dust procured by washing; also, a place where this is done; a washery. 2. A thin covering or coat; as, a washing of silver. 3. (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. 4. (Pottery) The covering of a piece with an infusible powder, which prevents it from sticking to its supports, while receiving the glaze.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Washing is a collection of clothes, sheets, and other things which are waiting to be washed, are being washed, or have just been washed. ...plastic bags full of dirty washing...

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(Mark 7:1-9). The Jews, like other Orientals, used their fingers when taking food, and therefore washed their hands before doing so, for the sake of cleanliness. Here the reference is to the ablutions prescribed by tradition, according to which "the disciples ought to have gone down to the side of the lake, washed their hands thoroughly, 'rubbing the fist of one hand in the hollow of the other, then placed the ten finger-tips together, holding the hands up, so that any surplus water might flow down to the elbow, and thence to the ground.'" To neglect to do this had come to be regarded as a great sin, a sin equal to the breach of any of the ten commandments. Moses had commanded washings oft, but always for some definite cause; but the Jews multiplied the legal observance till they formed a large body of precepts. To such precepts about ceremonial washing Mark here refers. (See ABLUTION.)

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Ablution, lavation, bathing.

Moby Thesaurus

ablution, bear raid, bull raid, cleaning out, corner, corner in, douche, douching, elution, elutriation, enema, flush, flushing, flushing out, irrigation, lap, lapping, lathering, laundering, laundry, lavabo, lavage, lavation, laving, manipulation, monopoly, mopping, mopping up, plash, raid, rigging, rinse, rinsing, scouring, scrub, scrubbing, scrubbing up, shampoo, slosh, soaping, splash, sponge, sponging, swabbing, swash, tubbing, wash, wash sale, washday, washing up, washout, washup, wiping up