wash
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Remove by the application of water or other liquid and soap or some other cleaning agent.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
wahshIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈwɑʃ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Remove by the application of water or other liquid and soap or some other cleaning agent
“He washed the dirt from his coat.”
Cleanse (one's body) with soap and water
Cleanse with a cleaning agent, such as soap, and water
intransitive
To clean oneself with water.
Move by or as if by water
“The swollen river washed away the footbridge.”
transitive
To carry away or erode by the force of water in motion.
noun
The process or an instance of washing or being washed by water or other liquid.
Waste liquid, the refuse of food, the collection from washed dishes, etc., from a kitchen, often used as food for pigs; pigwash.
A lotion or other liquid with medicinal or hygienic properties.
The breaking of waves on the shore; the onwards rush of shallow water towards a beach.
The bow wave, wake, or vortex of an object moving in a fluid, in particular
The bow wave or wake of a moving ship, or the vortex from its screws.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Remove by the application of water or other liquid and soap or some other cleaning agent
Used this way, wash is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“He washed the dirt from his coat.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Remove / cleanseverb
“He washed the dirt from his coat.”
Moveverb
“The swollen river washed away the footbridge.”
More ways to use wash
- “The swollen river washed away the footbridge.”verb
- “He washed the dirt from his coat.”verb
- “The river washed a ravine into the mountainside.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
The work of cleansing (usually with soap and water).
Someone who washes things for a living.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Capable of being washed without injury.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A day set aside for doing household laundry.
A home appliance for washing clothes and linens automatically.
Soap in powdered form mixed with alkaline builders.
A sodium salt of carbonic acid.
The washing of dishes etc after a meal.
A fabric treated to be easily washable and to require no ironing.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.