from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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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