Pa. t. and pa. pple. washed. Forms: Inf. and present stem: 1 wæscan, wacsan, waxan, wacxan, waxsan, 2–6 wasche, wasse, 2–7 wasshe, 3 was(s)ce, weasche, 3–4 was(e, waass, 3–5, 6 Sc. wass, 3–5 wassche, 3–6 wasch, 4 whasche, 4–5 wach(e, wasch(s)che, wassh, 5 vasshe, whas, 7 Sc. vash, 3–7 washe, 3– wash; 4 waysch(e, waiisse, wayss, 4–5 wais(s)che, wais(s)he, wayssh(e, waisse, 4–6 wayshe, waysse, weische, weysshe, weysch, 6 weish; (chiefly north. and Sc.) 2–6 wesche, 3–5 wess(e, 4–5 wessch(e, 4–6 wessh(e, vesch(e, 4–7 wesch, 5 whess, 5–7 weshe, 9 dial. wesh; also 4 wisshe, whosshe, 5 wosche, wosshe, 6 Sc. woucht, 6–7 wysch(e. Pa. t. α. 1 wósc, 2–4 wosch, 4 woisse, 4–5 wossch(e, wosh(e, wossh(e, 4–5, 6 Sc. wosche, 5 woschsse, Sc. wousche, 6 Sc. woushe, 7 Sc. woosh. β. 1 wéox, 2 weoso, 2–3 weis, 2–4 wess(e, 2–5 wesch, wessh, 3 weosch(s, wes, 3–4 wex(s, weiss(e, 3–5, 6 Sc. wesche, 4 we(s)chs, weesche, weysche, 4–5 wessch(e, wesh(e, 4–6 wesshe, 5 weeshe, (pl. whesshen), 6 Sc. weisch(e, 9 Sc. weesh, weish; 3–4 wasch, was, 4–5 wasche, wassh(e; 2–3 wuesh, 3 wuchs, (pl. wuschschen), 3–5 wusch, 4 wuesch, 6 Sc. wus(c)he, 9 Sc. wush; 3–4 wis, 4 wysch, 4–5, 6 Sc. wisch(e, 4–5 wissch(e, wissh(e, wys(s)che, wysh, wyssh(e, 5 wishe, whisse, (pl. wissen), 7 Sc. wyshe. Pa. pple. 1 -wæscen, -wahsen, -waxen, 2 (i)wasse, 2–3 (i)wasshen, 2–5 waschen, 3 weaschen, 3–4 wassen, 3–5 (i)wasche, 4 wasshin, (i)washe, whasche, wahche, 4–5 wassche(n, -yn, (y)wasshe, wasshun, whasshen, 4–6 wasshen, 5 was(c)hyn, wassh, wasch, whassche, 6 wasz(s)hen, Sc. waschin, 7 Sc. washine, 3–9 (now arch. and dial.) washen; 2 (i)wesscen, 2–5, 6 Sc. weschen, 3–4 wessen, 4 wesche, (y)wesse, 5 wessch, (y)wesh, wesshe, (y)whess, weshen, 5, 6 Sc. weschin, -yn, 6 Sc. veschin(e; 4 waysen, 4–5 waische(n, -un, -yn, wayschen, waissche(n, waisshe(n, wayshun, weische(n, weysche, 5 waishe, waisch; 8 Sc. wush. Weak pa. t. and pa. pple. 3–4 wassed, 4–5 wascht, 4–6 wasched, wasshed, wesshed, etc.; 5 wesht, Sc. wecht; 4–5 washid, 6 washte, 7 washd, 6–8 washt, 7–9 wash’d, 5– washed. [A Com. Teut. vb. (not recorded in Gothic), originally strong: OE. wæscan, wascan, also by metathesis waxan, pa. t. pl. wóxon, wéocson, pa. pple. -wæscen, corresponds to OFris. *waska (E. and N.Fris. waske, W.Fris. waskje), OS., OLow Frankish wascan (Du. wasschen, pa. t. wiesch, pa. pple. gewasschen), OHG. wascan, pa. t. wuosc, pa. pple. giwascan (MHG. waschen, weschen, mod.G. waschen, pa. t. wusch, pa. pple. gewaschen), ON. (rare) vaska, conjugated weak (Sw. vaska, Da. vaske):—OTeut. *waskan:—*watskan f. root *wat- as in WATER sb.
It is uncertain whether the original conjugation was of the reduplicating type (OE. pa. t. wéosc = Du. wiesch) or of the ablaut type (OE. wósc = OHG. wuosc). In English the weak conjugation appears occasionally in the 14th c., but the strong forms prevailed till the close of the 16th c., after which they seldom occur exc. in dialects.]
I. To cleanse by means of water. Also with compl. adj., to wash white, clean.
1. trans. To cleanse, remove the dirt from (something) by affusion of or immersion in water.
In OE. the verb was almost confined to the specific use 2 below. For the washing of vessels, and for the washing of the human body, the word used was þwéan.
900. in Thorpe, Dipl. Angl. Sax. (1865), 145. Hi sculan waxan sceap.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Levit. i. 9. And waxan þæt innewerde and þa fet [of the burnt offering].
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Luke v. 2. Ða fisceras eodon, & woxon heora net.
c. 1205. Lay., 10182. Heo … wascen þa waȝes [c. 1275 wassen þe wowes].
13[?]. St. Alexius, 311. (Laud MS. 108). As he wessch here dissches.
1387. Trevisa, Higden, III. 315. Diogenes wisshe [v.rr. wische, wysch] wortes in a tyme. Ibid., VI. 403. Sche wolde take þe schoon of here sustres priveliche by nyȝte and wasche [v.rr. wasse, waysche] hem and smere hem.
1412–20. Lydg., Chron. Troy., II. 751. It [sc. the conduit water] made a ful purgacioun Of al ordure & fylþes in þe toun, Waschyng þe stretis as þei stod a rowe.
c. 1430. Two Cookery-bks., 18. Pyke hem clene, & skrape hem, & Wasshem clene. Ibid., 114. Nym ye ris, whess hem clene.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., II. xiv. 230. A good huswijf … now sche sethith, now sche rostith, now sche weischith disschis.
1520. in Archæologia, XXV. 437. For wayshyng of the flocke at Frynge iij s. iiij d.
1617. Moryson, Itin., I. 24. Water … for washing of glasses.
a. 1722. Lisle, Husb. (1757), 317. In Kent … they wash their sheep in the following manner.
1764. Eliza Moxon, Engl. Housew. (ed. 9), 175. Take cockles at a full moon and wash ’em.
1773. J. Campbell, Mod. Faulconry, 199. When you give her casting of flannel or cotton, take care to have them washen as clean as they can be.
1834. Dickens, Sk. Boz, Boarding-ho., ii. The second-floor front was scrubbed, and washed, and flannelled.
1849. Lever, Con Cregan, xviii. Carriages, too, were washing, and high-bred horses standing out to be groomed.
1861. Flor. Nightingale, Nursing (ed. 2), 61. In the sick room, the doctor should always be asked … at what hour he chooses the floor to be washed.
1905. R. Bagot, Passport, xxvii. 295. We could talk afterwards—while Ernana is washing the dishes.
† b. Prov. To wash a wall of loam, a brick or tile (= L. laterem lavare), to labor in vain. Cf. 3 d.
1586. Hooker, Serm., ii. § 19. But we wash a wall of lome; we labor in vaine.
1612. Two Noble K., III. v. 41. We have, As learned Authours utter, washd a Tile.
1779. Warner, in Jesse, Selwyn & Contemp. (1844), IV. 263. I wish I could make him feel as he ought, but one may as well wash a brick.
c. Naut. To wash a ship: see quot. Also absol. ? Obs.
1644. Manwayring, Sea-mans Dict., 113. To Wash a Ship. That is used at sea, when we cannot come aground, or careene-her: we make her heeled-over with her Ordnance and men, upon the yard-arms to a side, and so wash that side and scrape it (so much as is out of the water, which is commonly some 5, or 6 strakes).
1666, 1720. [see TALLOW v. 1 b].
1679. Lond. Gaz., No. 1445/1. They will Wash and Tallow, and then take their course to the Westward.
† d. Fishing. To wash off: to wash (the net) after a day’s work. Also absol. Obs.
1630. in Binnell, Descr. Thames (1758), 73. Upon Saturday Sun set, to wash off his Net, hale up and go home. Ibid., 77. That no Trawler do fish … upon the Saturday after Sun-rising, but to wash off, hale up, and go home.
e. To wash out: to cleanse the interior of (a vessel).
1827. Faraday, Chem. Manip., ii. (1842), 54. It is requisita that it [the bottle] be washed out after every experiment, the last two or three rinsings being made with distilled water.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VIII. 757. A tube of convenient size open at the top or sides so that it can be properly washed-out.
f. To wash up: to wash (table utensils) after a meal. Also absol.
1751. F. Coventry, Pompey the Little, II. xiii. 241. When he had done sipping his Tea, he used to wash up the Cups with the most orderly Exactness.
1837. J. Morier, Abel Allnutt, I. xx. 304. That Betsy might be allowed to come in and help to ‘wash up.’
1853. Dickens, Bleak Ho., xlix. Sitting in state to see the room cleared, the hearth swept, and the dinner-service washed up and polished in the back yard.
1905. R. Bagot, Passport, xxiii. 233. His supper over, and Ernana having retired into the kitchen to wash up.
g. To wash down: to wash from top to bottom or from end to end.
1877. Stables, Pract. Kennel Guide, 129. A portion of carbolic acid should be used with the water you wash down the yard with.
1898. Jrnl. Sch. Geog. (U.S.), Oct., 300. The waters of the bay are so foul that … ships which visit Rio … do not wash down their decks … during their stay in port.
1901. G. Douglas, House w. Green Shutters, 14. Gilmour … was washing down the legs of a horse.
2. To cleanse (soiled clothes, wool, etc.) by rubbing in water, with soap or some equivalent. Also to wash clean, white.
c. 900. trans. Bæda’s Hist., I. xxvii. (1890), 84. He þa ærest bebead, þæt heo heora hræʓl woosce & clænsode.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 57. Sume bereð sole cloð to þe watere forto wasshen it clene.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 324. Wule a weob beon, et one cherre, mid one watere wel ibleched, oðor a sol cloð hwit iwaschen?
1340. Ayenb., 236. Ase linene kertel erþan hi by huyte ueleziþe him behoueþ þet he by ybeate and ywesse.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XIII. 315. Þi best cote … Hath many moles and spottes, it moste ben ywasshe.
c. 1450. Two Cookery-bks., 84. Take hit vppe in a faire lynnen cloth that is clene wasshen.
1497. Halyburton, Ledger (1867), 149. Item ffor iiij men to weysch it [the wool] and dry it,… 3 s.
1522. Burgh Rec. Stirling (1887), I. 17. That na persoun nor personis woucht ony maner of clais at the toune bouirn … undir the pain of … brekin of the weschal that tha wous with.
1538. Elyot, Dict., Radicula, an herbe, the iuyce whereof is good to wasshe woulle.
15[?]. Wyf of Auchtirmwchty, 94. He trailit the fowll scheitis doun the gait, Thocht to haif wechst [Ramsay wush] thame on ane stane.
1842. Macaulay, Ess., Fredk. Gt. (1897), 814. ‘See,’ exclaimed Voltaire, ‘what a quantity of his dirty linen the King has sent me to wash!’
1868. Louisa M. Alcott, Little Women, ii. How nice my handkerchiefs look, don’t they? Hannah washed and ironed them for me.
b. To be (a) washing: to be getting washed.
1600. Rowlands, Lett. Humours Blood, v. 72. Except his Shirt’s a washing.
a. 1704. T. Brown, Pleas. Lett. to Gentl., Wks. 1709, III. II. 16. Their Commodes and Smocks were washing below by the Landlady of the House.
c. To wash one’s dirty linen at home, in public: said fig. with reference to domestic quarrels or grievances, the discussion of which is best confined to the family circle.
Cf. F. Il faut laver son linge sale en famille.
1867. Trollope, Last Chron. Barset, xliv. I do not like to trouble you with my private affairs;—there is nothing, I think, so bad as washing one’s dirty linen in public.
1891. Law Times, XCI. 21/2. It is ridiculous that grave disputes … should he kept waiting while the dirty linen of high society is … washed in public.
1895. [see LINEN sb.].
d. † To wash up, ? to wash with vigorous rubbing. To wash out, to rinse so as to remove soap or other substance from the web of the stuff.
1756. F. Home, Exper. Bleaching, 214. Give it a boil or two at most, and then wash it up while the gross body of the lime is in the substance of the cloth.
1876. Encycl. Brit., IV. 688/2. They [dyed calicoes] are treated with a hot solution of soap; they are then washed out, squeezed, and again soaped.
e. absol. To wash clothes (as an occupation or as part of one’s household duties). Also, to wash the clothes of a household periodically.
1591. Shaks., Two Gent., III. i. 313. Item, she can wash and scoure.
1623. Cockeram, II. She that Washeth. Lauatrix.
1671. H. M., trans. Erasm. Colloq., 420. What wilt thou do to the Germans, who wash scarce twice in a year?
1725. View Lond. & Westminster, 9. They were extraordinary Oeconomists, brew’d their own Beer, wash’d at home, [etc.].
1828. Lights & Shades, I. 242. Mrs. Stevens’s things hanging out again! I thought she washed last week.
1837. Dickens, Pickw., xxxiii. Betsy Martin, widow,… Goes out charing and washing by the day.
1854. Surtees, Handley Cr., x. (1901), I. 83. Lucy Sandey would mangle, wash, and clear-starch.
f. trans. To wash clothes for (a customer or lodger). dial.
1795. Vancouver, Agric. Essex, 82. They cook, wash, lodge, and find them [the workmen] in small beer for 2s. per week.
1886. S.-W. Linc. Gloss., s.v., She has weshed him ever sin he came.
1895. ‘Rosemary,’ Under the Chilterns, ii. 81. That’d be nigh enough for me to wash ’im an’ mend ’im.
g. absol. To have one’s clothes washed; to pay the laundress’s charges. jocular nonce-use.
1837. Dickens, Pickw., lv. It was by very many degrees the best professional job he had ever had, and one on which he boarded, lodged, and washed for six months afterwards.
h. trans. Of water or other agent: To have the property of cleansing (clothes) easily and well. Also absol.
1697. Tryon, Way to Health, vi. (ed. 3), 101. It [rain-water] Brews and Washes to greater advantage than others.
i. intr. Of a fabric, a dye: To bear cleansing with soap and water without damage to color or texture.
1765. Franklin, Lett., Wks. III. 402. Mrs. Stevenson bids me tell Sally, that the striped gown I sent her will wash.
1798. Jane Austen, Northang. Abb., iii. It is very pretty madam,… but I do not think it will wash well: I am afraid it will fray.
1840. H. Brownrigg, in K. Meadows, Heads of People, I. 93. ‘You told me, sir, the print would wash! she exclaimed, shewing to the unmoved shopman the colourless purchase.
1844. Hood, House of Mourning, Wks. 1863, VII. 7. Only eighteen pence a yard, Ma’am—and warranted to wash.
j. fig. (colloq.) To bear trial or investigation, stand the test, find acceptance, prove to be genuine, reliable. Chiefly in phr. (it) won’t wash.
1849. C. Brontë, Shirley, xviii. That willn’t wash, Miss.
1857. Hughes, Tom Brown, II. ii. He’s got pluck somewhere in him. That’s the only thing after all that’ll wash, ain’t it?
1867. Trollope, Last Chron. Barset, xvi. The men—and the women too, who are so … soft-natured, so kind,…—it so often turns out that they won’t wash.
1881. Ld. Acton, Lett. to Mary Gladstone (1904), 99. The defect of the argument is that it will neither wear nor wash.
1911. Spectator, 21 Oct., 643/1. He was not to be taken in by plausibilities that ‘wouldn’t wash.’
k. Pass. or intr. with out. Of a fabric: To lose color in the wash. Hence fig. to lose all vigor or freshness.
1848. Dickens, Dombey, i. The lady … was a long, lean figure, wearing such a faded air that she seemed not to have been made in what linen-drapers call ‘fast colours’ originally, and to have, by little and little, washed out.
1868. ‘Holme Lee,’ B. Godfrey, III. l. 27. Man’s honour woman’s best safeguard! That claptrap won’t wash any longer, sir, it is quite washed out.
1886. G. Allen, Maimie’s Sake, xxii. A reaction has set in, and I’m quite washed out and unfit for anything.
3. To cleanse (the body or part of it) with water. Also to wash clean, white.
c. 1160. Hatton Gosp., Matt. xxvii. 24. Pilatus … weosc [c. 1000 Ags. Gosp. þwoh] hys hande beforan þam folke.
c. 1200. Ormin, 15122. To wasshenn offte þeȝȝre lic Wiþþ waterr all wiþþutenn.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 324. Þu waschest þine honden in one elpi deie twies oðer þries.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 2289. After ðat grot, he weis is wliten.
a. 1300. Marina, 172, in Horstm., Altengl. Leg. (1878), 173. Go we whosshen vr dede broþer.
1340–70. Alex. & Dind., 423. Oure bodies ne ben in no baþ wahche.
1382. Wyclif, Judith x. 3. She wesh [1388 waischide] hir bodi.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, II. 267. Scho warmyt wattir, and hir serwandis fast His body wousche.
c. 1489. Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, ii. 61. They … asked after water for to wasse their handes.
1535. Coverdale, Gen. xix. 2. Let your fete be waszshen.
15[?]. Christ’s Kirk on Gr., 6, in Bannatyne MS. (Hunter. Club), 282. Thair come our kitteis weschin clene.
1622. J. Taylor (Water P.), Farew. Tower-Bottles, A 8. Many times you haue beene fild with trash, Scarce good enough your dirty skins to wash.
1709. Steele, Tatler, No. 73, ¶ 3. Keep your Temper, wash your Face, and go to Bed.
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, xxxviii. To wash and dress this young gentleman.
1862. Mrs. H. Wood, Mrs. Hallib., I. i. Here’s Francis coming down-stairs. He went up to wash his hands.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VIII. 610. The patient may be washed with sulphur soap.
b. const. of. rare.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., VI. v. (1495), 193. Whan chyldren ben wasshe of fylthe anone they defoyle themself ayen.
1897. O. Wister, in Harper’s Mag., March, 520/2. Both were aware that when shaved and washed of their round-up grime they could look very engaging.
c. said of the water as agent.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XIII. ix. (1495), 445. The ryuer Jordan wisshe and clensyd Naaman of Syria of his lepre.
1562. J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 100. Saue water, which dooth wash thy handis.
d. Proverbs. † One hand washeth another (see quots. 1593, 1596). To wash an Ethiop, a blackamoor (white); to wash an ass’s head (or ears): to labor in vain (cf. 1 b).
1581. Pettie, Guazzo’s Civ. Conv., III. (1586), 165. As one hand washeth another, and both of them the face, so one brother ought to support another.
1592. Lodge, Euphues Shadow (1882), 53. Who washeth the Asses eares, looseth both his Sope and his labour.
1593. G. Harvey, New Let. Notable Cont., Wks. (Grosart), I. 269. One hand washeth an other: and it apperteineth vnto him, that taketh something, to giue something.
1596. J. Melvill, Autob. & Diary (Wodrow Soc.), 375. We mein nocht to tyne tyme in wassing of sic Moores.
1604. Marston, Malcontent, IV. iii. F 3. I washt an Ethiop, who for recompence Sullyde my name.
1624. Massinger, Parlt. Love, II. ii. For, being censured, Or to extenuate, or excuse my guilt, Were but to wash an Ethiop.
1635. L. Foxe, N. W. Fox, 268. I have now washt the Black-moore these five yeares, having yet received neither Sallery, wages or reward. marg. Laboured in vaine.
1639. J. Clarke, Parœm., 155. He that washeth an asses head loseth both his lye and his labour.
a. 1791. [see ETHIOP A].
1845. R. Ford, Handbk. Spain, I. 65. It is loss of time and soap to wash an ass’s head.
e. Phrase, To wash one’s hands of: to disown responsibility for; to refuse to have any further connection with.
So in Fr. and other mod. langs.; orig. an allusion to Pilate’s washing his hands (Matt. xxvii. 24).
1554. Lady Jane Grey, Epistle, B vij. I wil wash my hands giltles thereof.
1570. Buchanan, Chamæleon, Wks. (1892), 53. Pilat wesching his handis of ye deid of Chryst.
1642. in Clarendon, Hist. Reb., IV. § 346. He said, ‘he should wash his hands before all the world from the least imputation of slackness.’
c. 1645. Howell, Lett., II. xix. (1892), 411. I intend to spend my breath no longer upon them, but to wash my hands quite of the business.
1693. Congreve, Old Bach., II. i. Mony is but Dirt Sir Joseph—Mere Dirt. Sir Jo. But I profess, ’tis a Dirt I have wash’d my Hands of at present.
1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, VIII. iii. ‘Then I wash my hands of you,’ cries the doctor.
1766. H. Walpole, Lett. to Lady M. Coke, 3 March. Politics, of which I washed my hands for ever when I came away.
1853. Dickens, Bleak Ho., vi. He had entirely washed his hands of the difficulty, and it had become ours.
1887. ‘Edna Lyall,’ Knt.-Errant (1889), 29. You are incorrigible. I wash my hands of you.
¶ f. The expression ‘I will wash my hands in innocency’ (Ps. xxvi. 6) is echoed in the following passage, where the meaning is ‘to lead a life of heedless ease.’
1630. R. Johnson’s Kingd. & Commw., 324. Who of all men living wash their hands most in carelesnesse, being never disturbed with worldly cares or incumbrances.
g. To wash one’s hands: to rub the hands alternately one over the other, in imitation of the action of washing them. (Cf. Shaks., Macb., V. i. 33).
1563–83. Foxe, A. & M., 1493/2. Rogers … was burned into ashes, washing his handes in the flame as he was in burning.
1840. Hood, Miss Kilmansegg, 315. (Christening) He … Seem’d washing his hands with invisible soap, In imperceptible water.
h. Of a cat, etc.: To cleanse (itself, its face) by licking and rubbing with its paw.
1661. M. Stevenson, Twelve Moneths, 27. The Hare in a Furrow sits washing her face.
1792. Burns, Sic a Wife as Willie had, 26. Auld baudrons by the ingle sits, An’ wi’ her loof her face a-washin’.
1858. H. W. Dulcken, Picture Fables, 89.
| Why do you wash yourself, Pussy, I pray, | |
| Every half hour, all through the day? |
i. refl. To cleanse one’s body, or (often) merely one’s face and hands, with water.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 73. Wascheð ou and wonieð clene.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 56. Ase heo weoschs hire.
c. 1250. Kent. Serm., in O. E. Misc., 29. vi. Ydres of stone þet ware i-clepede baþieres wer þo gius hem wesse for clenesse.
1340. Ayenb., 202. Elyseu þe profete het to naaman þet wes mezel þet he him wesse ine þe flom Jordan zeueziþe.
1390. Gower, Conf., II. 254. Into his bath he wente anon And wyssh him clene as eny bon.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., IV. viii. 468. That no man schulde take mete, but that he anoon bifore waischid him.
1596. in Spalding Club Misc., I. 86. Eftir thei hed anes waschin tham selffis and dryit agane.
1632. Lithgow, Trav., IV. 142. They wash themselues in a Lauotoio.
1643. Trapp, Comm., Gen. xxxv. 2. We wash us every day; but, when to dine with great ones, we wash us with balls, and put on our best.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 94, ¶ 8. He threw off his Clothes with a Design to wash himself.
1887. Bowen, Virg. Æneid, II. 719. Until I wash me again Clean in the running fountain.
j. intr. for refl. (= to wash oneself, one’s hands, etc.).
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 159. Þos fure kunnes teres boð þe fuwer wateres þa þe beoð ihaten us on to weschen.
c. 1320. Sir Tristr., 541. Þe king no seyd no more, Bot wesche and ȝede to mete.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 2997. Whan þei samen hade souped & seþþe whasche after.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XIII. 28. Þei wesshen [v.r. wasscheden] and wypeden and wenten to þe dyner.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, I. x. 49. Anon as they had wasshen & rysen.
a. 1562. G. Cavendish, Wolsey (1893), 174. I woll not presume to wassche with yow & therfore I pray you hold me excused. Than was my lord Cardynall constrayned to wasshe alone, and my lord of Norfolke alone also.
1596. Shaks., Tam. Shrew, IV. i. 157. Come Kate and wash, and welcome heartily.
1605. Erondelle, Fr. Gard., L 4 b. Come, wash with my Lady and me, We may wash well foure in a Basen.
1694. E. Chamberlayne, Pres. St. Eng., I. III. (ed. 18), 410. No Earl is to wash with a Duke without the Dukes Permission.
1718. Lady M. W. Montagu, Lett. to C’tess [Mar], 10 March. These served her coffee, kneeling; brought water when she washed, [etc.].
1770. G. White, Selborne, To Barrington, 8 Oct. As far as I can observe, many birds that dust themselves never wash.
1823. Scott, Quentin D., xi. And now wash speedily … and follow me.
1854. Poultry Chron., I. 49. Here the birds can wash.
k. To cleanse, rinse, drench (the mouth, etc.) with a douche or medicinal application. Also with out.
1538. Elyot, Dict., Gargarisso, to gargaryshe or washe the mouthe and throte of a man.
c. 1550. H. Lloyd, Treas. Health, vi. C vj. Then let ye pacyent fastyng hold this bage in his mouth & chaw it betwixt hys teeth, & after washe his mouth wyth warme wyne and Hony.
1825. T. Hook, Sayings, Ser. II. Sutherl. (Colburn), 43. The Colonel … began to wash out his mouth.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VI. 583. Antral and attic cavities washed out with strong antiseptic solution. Ibid., VIII. 300. It is a good thing to keep washing out the vagina by antiseptic douches.
l. Said with reference to baptism.
¶ Used by Cheke to translate βαπτίζειν to baptize.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 23686. Waters þat wete þan cristes flexs, and in batism his santes wexs.
1303. R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 9508. Adams synne was so grefe, Þat þyr was to God none so lefe, Þyt he ne shulde to helle gone But he were wasshe yn þe fonte stone.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., I. 72. Joon hadde office of God to se Crist, and waishe him.
1450–1530. Myrr. our Ladye, 123. All that ar wasshed in the floude of baptym.
1483. Caxton, Golden Leg., 188 b/2. He baptysed our lord and wysshe hym where he had neuer fylthe.
c. 1550. Cheke, Matt. xx. 22. Can ie … be wasched with yt wasching yt I schal be wasched withal.
1623. Cockeram, II. To Wash. Belaue, Baptize.
1653. R. Carpenter (title), The Anabaptist washt and washt, and shrunk in the washing.
m. fig. To cleanse from the stain of sin. Const. from, † of.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 157. Swiche teres scedde M. Magdalene þa heo wosch ure drihtenes fet and heo werð hire solf waschen of hire fule sunnen.
a. 1310. in Wright, Lyric P., xxv. 70. Of blod ant water the stremes be, Us to whosshe from oure fon thre.
1340. Ayenb., 112. Þe herte þet is … yclensed and ywesse be zoþe ssrifte.
1382. Wyclif, Rev. i. 5. The which … waschide [v.r. wesh] us fro oure synnes in his blood.
1430–40. Lydg., Bochas, VIII. xiii. (1558), 8. As man most sinful I come vnto the well … For to be washen of mine iniquity.
a. 1572. Knox, Hist. Ref., Wks. 1846, I. 23. Christ woushe us with his blood.
c. 1650. Binning, Serm., Wks. (1735), 566. We are washen from the Guilt of our Sins.
1707. Watts, Hymn, ‘Not the Malicious,’ iii. But we are wash’d in Jesus’ blood, We’re pardon’d thro’ his name.
1874. Sankey’s Sacred Songs (1878), 45. Washed in the blood of the Lamb.
† n. To clear, free from blame or aspersion.
1659. Burton’s Diary (1828), IV. 405. Major-general Kelsey laboured to wash him.
4. To flush or drench (a substance) with water or other liquid, in order to remove impurities or to dissolve out some component.
a. 1650. E. Norgate, Miniatura (1919), 17. Then take the remayning grounds and wash them as before.
1651. French, Distill., iii. 71. This Oil must be washed in good store of water.
1815. J. Smith, Panorama Sci. & Art, II. 407. By washing the residuum, a portion of it dissolves in the water.
1849. D. Campbell, Inorg. Chem., 303. This crust, washed with anhydrous alcohol, breaks up into small crystals.
1853. S. Hughes, Gas-works, 42. The process of washing the gas is adopted for the purpose of separating ammonia, and consists of passing the gas through a simple sheet of water 6 or 8 inches in depth.
1857. Miller, Elem. Chem., Org., 56. By washing the distilled liquid with water, the acetone may, therefore, be removed.
1874. F. Clowes, Pract. Chem., 44. A precipitate which has been filtered from the liquid in which it is suspended has often to be washed until perfectly free from the liquid adhering to it.
b. Of running water, rain, etc.: To pass over (a surface) so as to carry off adherent matter; to waste, abrade or erode in its flow. Also with out.
1523–34. Fitzherb., Husb., § 16. All the rayne that commeth shal washe the lande, and dryue away the dounge and the good moulde.
1801. Farmer’s Mag., April, 125. In cases where the stream is not rapid, and where there is little risk of the banks being washed or hurt during the summer months.
1805. R. W. Dickson, Pract. Agric., I. 399. Taking the water off without washing the land.
1817. Byron, Manfred, I. ii. 124. A pathway, which the torrent Hath wash’d since winter.
1860. Tyndall, Glac., II. viii. 263. The glacier … is flanked by mountains which are washed by rain.
1894. Crockett, Raiders, 13. The moon … of early April, clean washen by the rains.
1897. J. L. Allen, Choir Invisible, v. 65. This stream flows unseen beneath the streets of the city now with scarce current enough to wash out its grimy channel.
II. To subject to the action of water or other liquid.
5. To bathe, lave (the body, limbs, wounds, etc.) with water or other liquid.
Where the reference is to wounds, there is sometimes the additional notion of cleansing from blood, pus, etc.: cf. sense 3.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 83. He weis his wunde mid wine.
1387. Trevisa, Higden, VIII. 235. Þan he wesche [v.rr. weesche, wuesch] þe woundes of þe ymage of the crucifixe.
c. 1400. Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 199. Þanne waische þe lyme wiþ a decoccioun of malowis & violet & rotis of bismalue in watir.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, VIII. 787. The wery ost … Wysche woundis with wyn, off thaim that was wnsound.
1481. Caxton, Reynard, xliii. (Arb.), 116. Wyse Maistres and Surgyens,… bonde them, and weeshe hem [sc. the wounds].
1622. Mabbe, trans. Aleman’s Guzman d’Alf., II. 354. After this my rubbing and being washt with Salt and Vineger.
1626. Bacon, Sylva, § 998. The Wound must be at first Washed cleane, with White Wine.
1686–7. in Spalding Club Misc., V. 237. He sawe Alex. Chalmer, his hand blooding, after it was washen, being hurt.
1809. Med. Jrnl., XXI. 37. A solution of the muriat of mercury in alcohol, to wash the affected parts with twice a day.
b. To bathe (the eyes). Also, to wash clean, clear. † Also transf. (jocularly), to clear or sharpen the sight of (the eyes) with strong drink (cf. next).
c. 1200. Vices & Virtues, 125. Wassce and wipe wol clane ða eiȝene, for ðan soð is ðat hie ðe siggen.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 13571. Ga wasse þin eien þar.
c. 1420. Chron. Vilod., 2826. Þis bysone mon to þat water he ladde And wosshe þere-wt his ynon two.
16[?]. Chalkhill, in Walton, Angler, xvi. 210. We … Drink a cup to wash our eyes, Leave the sluggard sleeping.
1826. Scott, Woodst., xxxviii. His eyes washed with only a single cup of canary. Ibid. (1831), Cast. Dang., ii. Thou shalt have no cause to complain that thine eyes … have been damaged by a Scottish mist, while we can find an English coin to pay for the good liquor which should wash them clear.
c. To moisten (the throat) with wine. † Hence to wash one’s brain, head, etc., as jocular expressions for wine-drinking.
1390. Gower, Conf., II. 176. For Bachus was a glotoun eke, Him for the throte thei beseke, That he it wolde waisshen ofte With swote drinkes and with softe.
1540. Palsgr., Acolastus, II. i. H ij b. My teth be al to furrid with flakes of skurfe (sticking vpon them syns I washed them with any merye go downe).
1589. Nashe, Anat. Absurd., D 4. He that washeth his braines with diuers kinds of wines, is the next doore to a drunken man.
1590. Lodge, Rosalynde (1592), F 3. Washing their heades well with wine.
1599. B. Jonson, Ev. Man out of Hum., V. iv. I’le wash my temples with some on’t presently.
1606. Shaks., Ant. & Cl., II. vii. 105. It’s monstrous labour when I wash my braine, and it grow fouler.
1618. Fletcher, Loyal Subj., IV. v. init. Beleeve me fellow here will be lusty drinking. Many a washt pate in wine I warrant thee.
† d. intr. for refl. To use cosmetic washes. Obs.
1676. Etheredge, Man of Mode, II. i. 22. Young Ladies, Who notoriously wash, and paint, though they Have naturally good Complexions.
1693. Southerne, Maid’s last Prayer, II. i. I may Wash, and Patch, and please my self.
6. To plunge, bathe (a person) in a river or lake.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XIII. xii. (1495), 446. In Ethiopia is a lake and yf a body be wassh therin he shinyth as though he were anoynted wyth oyle.
1660. F. Brooke, trans. Le Blanc’s Trav., 129. Having washed him in a lake … they cloath him in a white gown.
† b. refl. Used for: To bathe. Obs. (? In later use jocular.)
1388. [see 6 c].
1483. Caxton, Golden Leg., 414 b/1. The emperour frederyk vysyted the holy londe and wysshe hym in a ryuer.
1511. Guylforde’s Pilgr. (Camden), 42. There we wesshe us, and bayned us all nakyd in the water of Iordan.
1600. Shaks., A. Y. L., IV. i. 103. He went but forth to wash him in the Hellespont, and being taken with the crampe, was droun’d.
1711. Hearne, Collect. (O.H.S.), III. 195. One Mr. Reynalds … was drown’d by Ferry Hinksey, he being washing himself, but not able to swim.
1775. Burke, Corr. (1844), II. 38. My brother is washing himself at Brighthelmstone.
c. intr. for refl. To bathe. Obs. exc. of animals.
1382. Wyclif, 2 Kings v. 14. He wente doun, and wasche [1388 waischide hym] in Jordane seuen sithis.
1621. J. Taylor (Water P.), Motto, E 2. Old Chaucer, Sidney, Spencer, Daniel, Nash, I dipt my finger where they vs’d to wash.
1908. [Miss E. Fowler], Betw. Trent & Ancholme, 12. The ‘Wire Pond,’ where the horses came to wash.
† d. trans. To dip, plunge, immerse (a thing) in water. Obs.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Boeth., IV. met. vi. (1886), 111. Ne the same sterre vrsa nis neuer mo wasshen in the depe westrene see [L. nunquam occidio lota profundo]. Ibid. (c. 1386), Pard. T., 25. If that this boon be wasshe in any welle.
e. To wash one’s spears (sc. in blood): a phrase attributed to South African chiefs as expressing their motive for going to war.
1892. Rider Haggard, Nada, v. With every moon a fresh impi started to wash its spears, and came back few and thin.
1903. Bryce, Stud. Contemp. Biogr., 221. In one thing the young men [Sir Stafford Northcote’s followers], who, like Zulu warriors, wished to wash their spears, were right and he was wrong.
7. To wet or moisten thoroughly; to inundate or saturate with water (esp. rain) or other liquid; to sprinkle or pour water upon.
c. 1305. Lay., 17188. Heo wasceð [c. 1275 wasseþ] þene stan, & þer mide baðieð heore ban.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 1997. Now es … þe erth waiker þan it was þan, Thoru þe watur þat it sua wex, þer-for behoues now man ete flesse.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Monk’s T., 766. Reyn shal thee wasshe, and sonne shal thee drye.
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 138. Til that the water of the hevene Have waisshen him be times sevene.
c. 1400. Laud Troy Bk., 18570. Pirrus … hewe to gobetis al hir flesch, And with hir blod the tombe wesch.
1535. Coverdale, Isa. xxxiv. 7. Their londe shalbe washed [1611 soaked] with bloude.
1538. Elyot, Dict., Roresco, to be washed with dewe.
1577. T. Kendall, Flowers Epigr., Trifles, 13. A powryng, shower that … well the kyng did washe.
1590. Shaks., Mids. N., II. i. 104. Therefore the Moone (the gouernesse of floods) … washes all the aire. Ibid. (1596), Tam. Shr., II. i. 174. She lookes as cleere As morning Roses newly washt with dew.
1596. Edward III., III. ii. 23. He, that no sooner will prouide a Cloake, Then when he sees it doth begin to raigne, May, peraduenture, for his negligence, Be throughly washed, when he suspects it not.
1662. J. Davies, trans. Olearius’ Voy. Ambass., 35. Ever and anon our Sails were wash’d by the Waves.
1724. Ramsay, Vision, xxviii. Flora … New washen with a showir of May.
1783. Cowper, Rose, 1. The rose had been wash’d, just wash’d in a shower.
1810. Scott, Lady of Lake, IV. i. The rose is sweetest wash’d with morning dew.
b. To wet copiously (with tears).
Chiefly in religious use, after Ps. vi. 6 Vulgate, lavabo lectum meum, and with reference to Luke vii. 38.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 65. Swo ich wile biwepe mine synnes þat mi bed bie iwasshen mid mine teares. Ibid., 151. He wasseð his neb mid teares.
c. 1300. Judas, 125, in E. E. P. (1862), 110. His fet heo wosch wiþ hire teres.
1340. Ayenb., 171. He ssel grat zorȝe habbe … and ofte mid his teares his bed wesse.
c. 1400. Love, Bonavent. Mirr., xlvii. And þer wyth of þe habundaunce of teres sche woschsse muche bettere hys heuede.
1450. Paston Lett., I. 124. I … have soo wesshe this lite bille with sorwfulle terys, that [etc.].
1603. Shaks., Meas. for M., III. i. 239. He, a marble to her teares, is washed with them, but relents not.
c. With predicative extension: To form in (holes) by the action of dropping or running water. Similarly, to form a hole or depression in (a surface) by erosion.
1766. Complete Farmer, s.v. Walk, The dripping of the water from their branches in hard rains, is apt to wash the gravel in holes, and render the walks very unsightly.
1911. Concise Oxford Dict., s.v., Water had washed a channel.
† 8. To sweat (gold or silver coin) by the application of acids. Obs.
Distinct from the ‘washing’ of coin forbidden in recent statutes: see 9 c.
1421–2. Hoccleve, Minor Poems, xxi. 106. How may it [gold coin] holde his peise when it is waishe so that it lackethe somewhat in thiknese?
1543. trans. Act 3 Hen. V., c. 6. They that so do clyp, wasshe, and fyle the money of the lande, shalbe iudged traytours to the kynge and to the realme.
a. 1547. in J. R. Boyle, Hedon (1875), App. 88. Of them that countrefetes, clypis, washes, or fylis the Kinges coyne.
1597. Hooker, Eccl. Pol., V. lxxix. § 12. To wash or clip that coyne which hath on it the marke of God.
1643. Docq. Lett. Patent at Oxf. (1837), 45. Pardon … for counterfeiting forging clipping washing or falsefying Money of Gold or silver.
9. To cover or smear (a surface) with a liquid substance lightly applied. Also with over.
1755. Art of Drawing in Perspective, 91. When these are dry, wash all over with the white Varnish before the Fire.
1854. Maria L. Charlesworth, Minist. Children, v. 60. [She] washed over the tops of the loaves with a feather dipped in beer.
b. To cover (a wall, etc.) with pigment mixed with water or watery liquid; to whitewash or color-wash.
1604. Shuttleworths’ Acc. (Chetham Soc.), 157. A plasterer,… v days plasteringe and wasshinge in the chambers on the soth syed, ijs jd. Ibid. (1606), 172. A plasterer, v days wasshinge the halle and dyninge chamber, ijs vjd.
1722. Lond. Gaz., No. 6103/3. The Walls of the Houses were washed with Water in which Lime had been slaked.
1826. Cobbett, Rur. Rides (1885), II. 296. The windmills … are all painted or washed white.
c. To cover with a film of metal deposited from a solution.
1792. Gentl. Mag., LXII. I. 19/1. A chain and medal … is silver washed over with gold.
1853. Humphreys, Coin-coll. Man., xxvi. 381. The ten-centime piece of Napoleon … being of copper washed with silver.
1861. Act 24 & 25 Vict., c. 99 § 1. Any of the current Coin which shall have been gilt, silvered, washed, coloured, or cased over … so as to resemble … any of the Queen’s current Coin of a higher Denomination.
10. Water-color Painting. To cover with a broad layer of color by a continuous movement of the brush; to depict (a colored surface) by this means; to lay (color) in washes. To wash in: to depict (a portion of a subject) with a wash of color. Also with over.
1622. Peacham, Compl. Gentl., xii. 110. Beginne first to wash ouer some plaine printes.
a. 1650. E. Norgate, Miniatura (1919), 30. In your dead colourings, you must wash over and colour your ground and complexion, with this red. Ibid., 32. Washing the colour with a bold hand. Ibid., 50. When you have … sleigtly washt in your skie.
1662. Atwell, Faithf. Surveyor, 53. Arable for corn you may wash with pale straw-colour made of yellow-ocre and white-lead.
1675. A. Browne, Appendix Art Paint., 13, 14. That manner I do approve of better, for Washing or Drawing any Design with Indian Ink, and indeed ought not be called Limning but Washing.
1755. Art of Drawing in Perspective, 9. Sometimes the Design is washed, that is, the Shadows are done with a Pencil in Indian Ink, or some other Liquor.
1807. J. Landseer, Lect. Engraving, iii. 132. A drawing washed with bistre or Indian ink.
1843. Ruskin, Arrows of Chace (1880), I. 5. Gaspar … washes his sky half blue and half yellow.
1860. Smiles, Self-Help, v. 125. He [Turner] was glad to hire himself out at half-a-crown a night to wash in skies in Indian ink upon other people’s drawings.
1860. J. D. Hooker, Flora Tasmania, II. 372. The scape should be washed over with a pale brown, leaving hardly a trace of green.
1871. Routledge’s Ev. Boy’s Ann., 1872, 406. The bushes … may be washed in with Indian yellow.
1886. Ruskin, Præterita, I. xii. 396. Copley Fielding taught me to wash colour smoothly in successive tints.
fig. 1861. J. Brown, Horæ Subs., Ser. II. 249. Such a man as I have sketched, or washed faintly in, as the painters say.
b. transf. in passive. Said in Natural History of surfaces that appear to have a superficial layer of color spread over them.
1844. Blyth in Jrnl. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, XIII. I. 466. The legs and feet … are pale; the hands are washed with blackish.
1888. P. L. Sclater, Argentine Ornith., I. 25. Tail-feathers black, washed with blue.
1894. R. B. Sharpe, Handbk. Birds Gt. Brit., I. 25. The intermediate form … differs from the typical bird in having the head and throat washed with purple.
11. Mining. To agitate in water, or to pass a stream of water through (metalliferous earth) in order to separate the metallic particles.
1543. Mem. Fountains Abbey (Surtees), I. 403. For washinge the leade ure at Grenehow morr.
1555. Eden, Decades (Arb.), 212. Then they washe all the earthe … And if herein they fynde any golde, they folowe it.
1619. S. Atkinson, Gold Mynes Scot. (Bannatyne Club), 1. The buddle where the same earth must be reudled or washed.
1853. C. R. Read, Austral. Gold Fields, 34. In many cases men used to pay other £20 a-week to be allowed to wash their tailings.
1863. B. A. Heywood, Vac. Tour Antipodes, 48. The Chinese … have been known to wash over again the deserted washings of the Europeans, and to find gold in paying quantities.
b. absol.
1604. G. Bowes, in Cochran-Patrick, Early Rec. Mining Scot. (1878), 107. I bestowed my workemen to washe for golde in Whites meadowe.
18[?]. C. A. Goodrich, Child’s Hist. U.S. (1882), 122. Men … were found gathered there … washing for gold.
III. Of flowing water: To flow past or over land.
12. Of a sea or river: To flow over or past (the sand, shore, coast); to beat upon (walls, cliffs, etc.); to touch, adjoin (a town, country, etc.). Also of a river: To pass through, ‘water’ (a country).
c. 1205. Lay., 123. I þere Tyure he eode alond þer þa sea wasceð þat sond.
1538. Elyot, Dict., Subluere, to vnderwashe, as water, whyche runneth lowe vnder a banke or hylle, and washeth the foote thereof.
1585. T. Washington, trans. Nicholay’s Voy., II. xii. 47. The two sides are washed by the sea.
1591. Spenser, Vis. Bellay, 158. The golden grayle That bright Pactolus washeth with his streames.
1697. Dryden, Æneis, VIII. 90. In Times to come My Waves shall wash the Walls of mighty Rome.
1698. Fryer, Acc. E. India & P., 329. They seldom stretch into Rivers at length, but stagnate in the Low Grounds, which they wash.
1700. Chauncy, Hertfordsh., 3. The Bulborne … washing the North East side of Barkhamsted.
1814. Cary, Dante, Parad., viii. 69. The crown, Which gave me sovereignty over the land By Danube wash’d.
1839. Thirlwall, Greece, VI. xlix. 168. The waves washed the foot of the cliffs.
1842. Borrow, Bible in Spain, xxiv. A small village, washed by the brook.
1877. Huxley, Physiogr., 45. The British Isles, washed by warm water on their western shores, are peculiarly subject to fogs.
transf. 1902. Kipling, Five Nations (1903), 64. The granite of the ancient North—Great spaces washed with sun.
b. intr. Of waves: To sweep over a surface; to break or surge against (the shore, etc.); to break in.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist., Hist. Earth, xvii. (1824), I. 122. The tides,… constantly washing over them, have always left some part of their substance behind.
1831. G. P. R. James, Phil. Augustus, xxxi. Nothing was … heard but the rippling of the waters of the Seine, then at high tide, washing against the very foundations of the tower.
1873. Black, Pr. Thule, viii. 119. The tiny waves that washed in on the white shore.
1885. Froude, Oceana, xvi. 243. The lightest ripple washed over the gunwale.
transf. 1920. In the Mountains, 132. It is a very good practice, I think, to lean out of one’s window for a space before going to bed and let the cool darkness wash over one.
c. Used by onomatopœia to suggest the sound of moving water, or of objects moving in water.
1842. Tennyson, Morte D’Arthur, 70. I heard the ripple washing in the reeds.
18[?]. Jean Ingelow, Days without Alloy, iii. (Funk). Then I hear the water washing, never golden waves were brighter.
1891. Century Dict., Wash, to make a swish, swash, or swirl of the water; as, the shad are washing.
IV. To remove, or carry away, by the action of water or other liquid.
13. trans. To remove (dirt, a stain, coloring, etc.) by the application of water or other liquid. Chiefly with adv., as away, out, off.
c. 1400. Beryn, 661. Yet, or he cam in company, he wissh a-wey the blood.
c. 1450. Mirk’s Festial, 90. Then was þys woman agrysed of þe blod, and wold haue weschyn hit away.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, IX. (last line). All blude and slauchtyr away was weschyn clene.
1562. Turner, Herbal, II. 32. Bay berries … weish out frekles.
1581. A. Hall, Iliad, IV. 66. After he had beheld the stroke, and washte away the bloud.
1605. Shaks., Macb., II. ii. 60. Will all great Neptunes Ocean wash this blood Cleane from my Hand?
1663. Patrick, Parab. Pilgr., xxxv. (1687), 437. Would you not have us pull off the Mask or wash off the paint, that we may shew things in their proper colours?
1681. trans. Belon’s Myst. Physick, Introd. 45. The Volatil Salt … is to be washed off with the said Water.
1755. Art of Drawing in Perspective, 91. Then wash off the Tripoli with a soft Sponge and Water.
1827. Faraday, Chem. Manip., xxiv. (1842), 629. Agitate it [the gas] with water to wash out the sulphurous acid.
1831. G. P. R. James, Phil. Augustus, xxxiv. Though the blood of his nephew was scarce washed from his hands.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VIII. 868. Washing discharge away with sublimate solution.
b. fig.
Very common in reference to sin, etc., regarded as a stain or defilement. In early use often without adv.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 324. Euerich god word, & euerich god werc wascheð smele sunnen.
a. 1240. Ureisun, in O. E. Hom., I. 189. As wis ase drope of þi deorwurþe blod mahte waschen a-wai alle folkes fulþe.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 1594. God … thoght a neu wengaunce to sent,… And waass þat wrang, þat was sa rijf.
1303. R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 9544. Whan Ihesu was baptysed þer-ynne [sc. in Jordan] For to wasshe awey þat synne.
14[?]. Pol., Rel. & L. Poems, 142. That … thy .v. woundis … May wach in vs all surfetis reproueable.
c. 1586. C’tess Pembroke, Ps. LI. i. O clense, O wash my foule iniquitie.
1664. Marvell, Corr., Wks. (Grosart), II. 121. His subjects … have with their ancient loyalty washed out the staines of the late Rebellion.
1709. Prior, Henry & Emma, 313. Nor Tears, that wash out Sin, can wash out Shame.
1781. Gibbon, Decl. & F., xxxi. III. 238. The ignominious lashes, which they had formerly received, were washed away in the blood of the guilty, or obnoxious, families.
1855. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xii. III. 130. This merit was thought sufficient to wash out even the stain of his Saxon extraction.
1880. Ld. Acton, Lett. to Mary Gladstone (1904), 38. The Republican party … had a good deal of dirty work to wash off.
c. transf. and fig. To blot out, obliterate, cancel.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 289. Ȝif chartris of men ben contrarie to goddis lawe, þes chartres schulde be wayschen and goddis lawe schulde stonde.
1568. Grafton, Chron., II. 703. The brotherly loue betwene them washed away and diminished all suspicion.
1580. H. F., Pelegrom. Syn. Sylva, 70. To Crosse or Cancell out, or to wash out writinges.
1584. R. Scot, Discov. Witchcr., V. ii. (1886), 74. Bodin washeth away all our arguments with one word.
1603. Holland, Plutarch’s Mor., 236. Now of these three causes before specified, the first doth not wash away envie.
1616. Withals’ Dict., 563. Lutum luto purgare. To wash out incke with incke.
1763. Spens, Plato’s Repub., IV. 151. Such wool as is not managed in this manner, you know what sort it proves; whether one is dying other colours, or this one, without the due preparation beforehand. I know, said he, that they are easily washen out.
1850. Smedley, F. Fairlegh, xxvi. This Wilford is a noted duellist, and no doubt thirsts to wash out the insult he has received in blood.
1859. FitzGerald, Omar, li. Nor [shall] all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.
d. intr. with out. Of coloring matter: To disappear from a fabric when washed.
1755. in 6th Rep. Dep. Kpr. Rec., App. II. 128. A certain Liquid Composition … which … will neither Wash Out, Fade, or Tarnish.
14. trans. To wash down: to swallow liquor along with or after (solid food), in order to assist deglutition or digestion. Also with fig. object. Also rarely to wash over.
1600. 1st Pt. Sir J. Oldcastle, V. viii. 41. In this one draught I wash my sorrow downe.
1649. Lovelace, Being treated, To Ellinda, 4. Flutes of Canary That well did wash downe pasties-mary.
1744. M. Bishop, Life & Adv., 193. I had three plentiful Meals, and some good Liquors to wash it down.
1848. Dickens, Dombey, xxxviii. This profound reflection Mr. Toodle washed down with a pint mug of tea.
1854. Surtees, Handley Cr., ii. (1901), I. 13. Then a good cut out of the middle of a well-browned saddle of mutton, wash it over with a few glasses of iced champagne.
1859. Jephson, Brittany, ix. 151. This we washed down with a … ‘bowl’ of mulled Bordeaux.
15. Of waves, running water, rain, etc.: To remove, dislodge, carry away; to carry or transport in a specified direction. With advs. away, down, off, out, up, etc., or const. from, into, out of, etc.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. X. 163. Til Fourti dawes ben folfuld þat þe flod haue I-wassche Clene awey þe cursede blod þat Caym haþ I-maket.
a. 1500. Bernardus, etc., III. 82. He walde þat A watter, or a well, hayd wecht it away.
1555. Eden, Decades (Arb.), 212. The water wassheth the earth … owte of the trais.
1593. Shaks., Rom. & Jul., III. v. 71. What wilt thou wash him from his graue with teares? Ibid. (1593), 3 Hen. VI., V. iv. 31. Bestride the Rock, the Tyde will wash you off.
1622. J. Taylor (Water P.), Merry-Wherry-Ferry Voy., Wks. 1630, II. 10/2. The raging Sea … euery day … eateth further in, Still … wasting, washing downe the sand doth win.
a. 1670. Spalding, Troub. Chas. I. (1829), 44. Waters and burns flowed over bank and brae, corn mills and mill-houses washen down, [etc.].
1674. Jackson’s Recant., A 2. A Clod of Earth, which … the least shower of Rheums [can] wash away to nothing.
1709. T. Robinson, Nat. Hist. Westmorld. & Cumbld., xiv. 81. Violent Currents of Water wash off the outer Coat of the Earth, and leave the Vein naked.
1745. P. Thomas, Jrnl. Anson’s Voy., 180. That the Rain-water may spread equally, and not wash down the Ground.
1748. Anson’s Voy., II. iii. 152. Several pieces of beef … had been washed out of the ship.
1842. Dickens, Amer. Notes, xi. The river has washed away its banks.
1858. Trelawny, Recoll. Shelley, etc., 120. The other body was washed on shore three miles distant from Shelley’s.
1883. Manch. Guard., 18 Oct., 4/7. The bodies of five seamen have been washed ashore.
b. To separate (metallic particles) by treating the containing earth with water. Also to wash out.
1555. Eden, Decades (Arb.), 212. These mynes … owght euer to bee soughte nere to sum ryuer … to thende that the golde may be wasshed.
1665. Phil. Trans., I. 117. A peculiar way of washing out very small Dust-gold.
1748. Anson’s Voy., I. v. 50. The washing the gold … from the sand and dirt, with which it is always mixed.
1920. Conquest, May, 324/1. Potassium and sodium cyanides are employed … for the purpose of washing out the gold from the quartz.
c. Of a hard surface: To beat off waves and flotsam as they are borne against it.
1697. Dryden, Æneis, VII. 812. His solid sides Wash off the Sea-weeds, and the sounding Tides.
d. intr. To be carried away or detached by moving water. Chiefly of soil, etc.: To be eroded or abraded, wear away by inundation. Chiefly with adv., as away, down.
c. 1590. Marlowe, Jew of Malta, I. ii. 451. Who … Thinke me to be a senselesse lumpe of clay That will with euery water wash to dirt.
1653. Walton, Angler, viii. 17. You must work or pound it [sc. your paste] so long in the Mortar, as to make it so tough as to hang upon your hook without washing from it.
1709. T. Robinson, Nat. Hist. Westmorld. & Cumbld., vii. 47. Whose Soil, by great Rains and Floods, washeth down into the Vallies.
1789. W. Jessop, in Rep. Engin. Thames-Isis Navig. (1791), 23. If the Stones are set in moss and wrecked full of Gravel to prevent the Earth from Washing from behind thro’ the Joints.
1822. Cobbett, Rur. Rides (1885), I. 13. It [the soil] has great tenacity; does not wash away like sand or light loam.
16. To be tossed about, to be carried or driven along, by waves or stream. Also with up, ashore, etc. Also fig.
1623. J. Taylor (Water P.), New Discov. by Sea, A 5. These sands so shallow In which thou seest our ship thus wash and wallow.
1745. P. Thomas, Jrnl. Anson’s Voy., 22. Four or five dead Bodies at a time … washing about the Decks. Ibid., 154. Our Bedding was … left washing in the Break of the Sea.
1815. Ann. Reg., Chron., 83. The vessel struck on the ground … and afterwards washed up against the piles on the west side.
1837. Carlyle, Fr. Rev., II. V. ix. War-Minister Narbonne is washed away by the Time-flood; poor Chevalier de Grave, chosen by the Court, is fast washing away.
1880. Times, 17 Dec., 5/6. The Adolph … is reported … to be total wreck. Cargo washing ashore.
1907. Daily Chron., 26 Sept., 6/5. I was glad to lay hold of a spar that washed by me.
17. Rowing. a. trans. To steer so as to impede (a competitor) by the ‘wash’ of one’s own boat.
1865. Field, 26 Aug., 152/2. His next step, when half a length ahead, was to edge in as much as he dare in front of Kelley, notwithstanding the admonition of the umpire, for the purpose of washing him.
1872. Field Q. Mag., III. 107/1. [Cambridge] passed under the Middlesex arch of Barnes Bridge … a length and a half ahead of the Oxonians, who, to escape being washed, elected to pass under the centre span.
b. intr. in phrase to wash out, to fail to lift out the blade of the oar squarely at the finish of the stroke.
1884. St. James’s Gaz., 28 March, 6/2. Stroke and No. 4 were washing out and rowing light in the finish of the stroke.
V. 18. Mech. (trans.) To wash off, to cut to a slope or bevel. To wash down (see quot. 1911).
1833. Loudon, Encycl. Archit., § 1117. The sole for the [window-] frame … to be washed off (sloped) on the outside to carry off the rain.
1911. Webster, To wash down, to work to a thin edge or featheredge. Scot.
VI. 19. slang. a. Printing. To punish or ‘rag’ (a fellow-workman for telling falsehoods) by hammering on his desk. Cf. WASHING vbl. sb. 5.
1841. Savage, Dict. Printing, 810.
b. Stockbroking. To subject (stock) to a ‘wash’: see WASH sb. 20. [Perh. orig. with allusion to the phrase ‘one hand washes the other’ (see 3 d).]
1895. Funk’s Stand. Dict.
1903. S. S. Pratt, Work of Wall St., 146. The syndicate may be washing sales by matched orders through curb brokers in order to market watered stock.
VII. 20. The verb-stem in combination.
a. Combinations of wash- + object, ‘(some one or something) that washes,’ as WASH-DISH 1, WASH-HAND a., WASHMOUTH.
b. Attributive combinations of wash- (often synonymous with parallel combs. of WASHING vbl. sb.), denoting things or places used for washing, or persons employed in washing clothes, as wash-boy, -cloth, -place, -rag, -solution, -tray, -vessel; wash-beetle, a wooden mallet for beating clothes as part of the process of washing; wash-boiler (see quot. 1875); wash-bottle Chem. (a) a bottle containing liquid through which gases may be passed for purification; (b) a bottle with a mouthpiece and issue tube, for directing a stream of liquid on a substance or utensil to be washed; wash-brush, a large brush for ‘washing’ or laying on washes of color; wash-dyke dial. = WASH-POOL; wash-gourd, the loofah (Webster, Suppl., 1902), also called washing-, towel-gourd; wash-kitchen [= G. waschküche], a kitchen used for washing clothes; wash-pen Austral., the pen into which sheep are driven to await their turn to be washed; wash-pitcher U.S., a ewer for the toilet; wash-room U.S., a lavatory; wash-table, a table for holding a wash-hand basin and ewer. Also in combs. denoting machinery used for washing in various industrial processes, as wash-drill, -stocks, -wheel.
c. 1555. Harpsfield, Divorce Hen. VIII. (Camden), 276. One in Kent … all to beat her yokemate with a *washbeetle or battledore.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., 2726. *Wash boiler, a domestic boiler for clothes.
1913. Mrs. Stratton-Porter, Laddie, vii. (1916), 124. While Sarah Hood cooked other things, and made a wash-boiler of coffee.
1849. D. Campbell, Inorg. Chem., 40. This gas … is partially purified by passing through a *wash-bottle containing caustic potash or soda.
1912. Nature, 19 Dec., 437/2. The experiment succeeds about equally well even when distilled water from a wash-bottle is substituted for powerful reagents.
1900. Wide World Mag., Oct., 97/2. We asked of one of the Celestials (our own *wash-boy for the past seven years) permission to take a photograph of the queer scene.
1873. E. Spon, Workshop Rec., Ser. I. 6/2. To tint large surfaces, a large camel-hair brush is used, termed a *Wash-brush.
1901. Macm. Mag., April, 470/1. She produced from her pocket my wash-brush…. ‘What in the world is a brush of that size used for?’ she went on.
1915. Mrs. Stratton-Porter, M. O’Halloran, i. 25. The pieces he saved for *washcloths.
1907. Contrib. Econ. Geol. U.S. Geol. Surv., Bulletin, 648 (Cent.). The borings through the alluvium were made by the *‘wash drill’ or ‘water jet.’
1765. Local Act, Road Barton—Riseham, Lincs., 9. Sheep going to or returning from any *Wash-dyke.
1909. ‘Q’ (Quilier-Couch), True Tilda, xx. 277. Two long wash-trays stood ready and steaming—one for Tilda in the *wash-kitchen itself, the other for Arthur Miles in a small outhouse adjoining.
1890. ‘R. Boldrewood,’ Col. Reformer, xii. Shearers’ huts, *wash-pens, machinery, and woolshed.
1852. Mrs. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s C., i. Eliza had upset the *wash-pitcher.
1889. Welch, Text Bk. Naval Archit., xi. 130. The lift and force pumps draw from the sea-suctions of the various 9-inch Downton’s, to supply the baths, *wash places, galleys, etc.
1890. E. L. Bynner, Begum’s Dau., iv. She employed the interval while her guests were at their luncheon in plying the *wash-rag and comb.
1899. B. C. Hirst, Text-bk. Obstet., v. ii. 677. Scrubbing the genital region most thoroughly with soap, hot water, and a soft bristle brush or a wash-rag.
1892. Gunter, Miss Dividends, v. He ejaculates nervously: ‘I’ll just wash my hands, and be with you in a moment,’ and moves hurriedly back to the gentlemen’s *wash-room at the rear of the car.
1908. S. E. White, Riverman, xi. That evening … Orde returned to the hotel. After freshening up in the marbled and boarded wash-room, he hunted up Newmark.
1849. D. Campbell, Inorg. Chem., 18. The solution to wash the gas…. The small tube passes down into the *wash solution.
1875. Encycl. Brit., III. 813/2. (Bleaching) The *wash-stocks … consists of a trough or box for holding the goods to be washed, through which a constant stream of water is passing.
1908. Daily Rep., 23 Aug., 8/2. Although late in the Empire period the square variety of *wash-table was sometimes used, it is clear that [etc.].
1909. ‘Q’ (Quilier-Couch), True Tilda, xx. 277. Two long wash-trays stood ready and steaming—one for Tilda in the wash-kitchen itself, the other for Arthur Miles in a small outhouse adjoining.
1841. S. Clegg, Treat. Coal-Gas, 110. If after condensation ‘dry lime’ is used for purifying, the gas must pass through a *wash-vessel.
1839. Ure, Dict. Arts, 417. (Dyeing) The hydraulic relations refer to the *wash-wheels and other similar apparatus.
1897. C. T. Davis, Manuf. Leather (ed. 2), 331. Fig. 94 shows a view of the lime-vats,… while in the background is shown the ‘wash-wheel.’
c. In certain mining terms, denoting material from which metal is to be obtained by washing: wash-gravel, -stuff = WASH-DIRT; † wash-ore Lead-mining, ore ready for washing.
1653. Manlove, Lead-Mines, 270 (E.D.S.). Stringes of oar, Wash-oar, and Pumps.
1891. Century Dict., Wash-gravel. Wash-stuff.
d. In recent use (originally U.S.), the verb-stem is often prefixed to names of garments and fabrics, with the sense ‘washable’: e.g., in wash-chamois, -foulard, -glacé kid, -glove, -gown, -ribbon, -silk, -waist.
In these combinations wash is often written as if a separate adj. Cf. WASHING ppl. a.
1888. Boston (Mass.) Jrnl., 23 June, 6/3. Rural retreats where she can sleep ten hours out of the twenty-four, wear wash-gowns, and live out of doors all day long.
1902. Eliz. L. Banks, Newspaper Girl, 168. He wore neckties of wash-ribbon—which, though it cost more per yard than the ordinary ribbon, I found the most inexpensive in the end—without a bark of dissatisfaction.
1914. ‘Amélie Rives,’ World’s-End, xii. A soft gown of white wash-silk fell in straight folds to her feet.
