wash ball

Wash \Wash\, n.
   1. The act of washing; an ablution; a cleansing, wetting, or
      dashing with water; hence, a quantity, as of clothes,
      washed at once.
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   2. A piece of ground washed by the action of a sea or river,
      or sometimes covered and sometimes left dry; the
      shallowest part of a river, or arm of the sea; also, a
      bog; a marsh; a fen; as, the washes in Lincolnshire. "The
      Wash of Edmonton so gay." --Cowper.
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            These Lincoln washes have devoured them. --Shak.
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   3. Substances collected and deposited by the action of water;
      as, the wash of a sewer, of a river, etc.
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            The wash of pastures, fields, commons, and roads,
            where rain water hath a long time settled.
                                                  --Mortimer.
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   4. Waste liquid, the refuse of food, the collection from
      washed dishes, etc., from a kitchen, often used as food
      for pigs. --Shak.
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   5. (Distilling)
      (a) The fermented wort before the spirit is extracted.
      (b) A mixture of dunder, molasses, water, and scummings,
          used in the West Indies for distillation. --B.
          Edwards.
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   6. That with which anything is washed, or wetted, smeared,
      tinted, etc., upon the surface. Specifically: 
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      (a) A liquid cosmetic for the complexion.
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      (b) A liquid dentifrice.
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      (c) A liquid preparation for the hair; as, a hair wash.
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      (d) A medical preparation in a liquid form for external
          application; a lotion.
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      (e) (Painting) A thin coat of color, esp. water color.
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      (j) A thin coat of metal applied in a liquid form on any
          object, for beauty or preservation; -- called also
          {washing}.
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   7. (Naut.)
      (a) The blade of an oar, or the thin part which enters the
          water.
      (b) The backward current or disturbed water caused by the
          action of oars, or of a steamer's screw or paddles,
          etc.
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   8. The flow, swash, or breaking of a body of water, as a
      wave; also, the sound of it.
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   9. Ten strikes, or bushels, of oysters. [Prov. Eng.]
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   10. [Western U. S.] (Geol.)
       (a) Gravel and other rock d['e]bris transported and
           deposited by running water; coarse alluvium.
       (b) An alluvial cone formed by a stream at the base of a
           mountain.
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   11. The dry bed of an intermittent stream, sometimes at the
       bottom of a canyon; as, the Amargosa wash, Diamond wash;
       -- called also {dry wash}. [Western U. S.]
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   12. (Arch.) 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,
       as a carriage wash in a stable.
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   13. an action or situation in which the gains and losses are
       equal, or closely compensate each other.
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   14. (Aeronautics) the disturbance of the air left behind in
       the wake of a moving airplane or one of its parts.
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   {Wash ball}, a ball of soap to be used in washing the hands
      or face. --Swift.

   {Wash barrel} (Fisheries), a barrel nearly full of split
      mackerel, loosely put in, and afterward filled with salt
      water in order to soak the blood from the fish before
      salting.

   {Wash bottle}. (Chem.)
       (a) A bottle partially filled with some liquid through
           which gases are passed for the purpose of purifying
           them, especially by removing soluble constituents.
       (b) A washing bottle. See under {Washing}.

   {Wash gilding}. See {Water gilding}.

   {Wash leather}, split sheepskin dressed with oil, in
      imitation of chamois, or shammy, and used for dusting,
      cleaning glass or plate, etc.; also, alumed, or buff,
      leather for soldiers' belts.
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