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washer

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A machine used to clean clothes or dishes.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

wahsher

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈwɑʃɚ

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. Something that washes; especially an appliance such as a washing machine or dishwasher.

  2. Someone who washes things for a living

  3. A person who washes (especially clothes) for a living; a washerman or washerwoman.

  4. A person who washes their hands compulsively, as a symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

  5. A flat piece of material, often of metal and often an annulus, placed beneath a nut or at some joint, to distribute pressure, alleviate friction, provide directionally differentiated friction (e.g. making the nut turn counter-clockwise only with difficulty), or prevent leakage.

  6. A face cloth.

verb

  1. transitive

    To fit (a mechanical device) with a washer.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Something that washes; especially an appliance such as a washing machine or dishwasher.

Used this way, washer is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • automatic washer , rarer, so it draws attention

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Flat / seal

window washerair washerdish washerrubber washer

Other combinations

lock washerwindshield washerthrust washerclothes washer

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • washverbBase word

    Clean with some chemical process.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • washableadjectiveDerived adjective

    Capable of being washed without injury.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • lock washernounCompound term

    Washer that prevents a nut from loosening.

  • automatic washernounCompound term

    A home appliance for washing clothes and linens automatically.

  • window washernounCompound term

    Someone who washes windows.

  • dish washernounCompound term

    A machine for washing dishes.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: something that washes

automatic washerRarewashing machine

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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.