- [countable, usually singular] (especially British English) an act of cleaning somebody/something using water and usually soap
- These towels are ready for a wash.
- I'll just have a quick wash before dinner.
- The curtains could do with a good (= thorough) wash.
- I'm doing a dark wash (= washing all the dark clothes together).
- Your shirt's in the wash (= being washed or waiting to be washed).
- My sweater shrank in the wash.
- That blouse shouldn't look like that after only two washes.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- good
- quick
- car
- …
- have
- do
- could do with
- …
- in the wash
- come out in the wash
- the wash[singular] an area of water that has waves and is moving a lot, especially after a boat has moved through it; the sound made by this
- The dinghy was rocked by the wash of a passing ferry.
- They listened to the wash of waves on the beach.
- Seagulls hovered above the wash of the trawler.
- [countable] a thin layer of a liquid, especially paint, that is put on a surface
- The walls were covered with a pale yellow wash.
- [countable, uncountable] a liquid containing soap, used for cleaning your skin
- an antiseptic skin wash
Word OriginOld English wæscan (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch wassen, German waschen, also to water.
Idioms
See wash in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee wash in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishit will (all) come out in the wash (informal)
- used to say that the truth about a situation will be made known at some time in the future
- This will all come out in the wash.
- used to make somebody less anxious by telling them that any problems or difficulties will be solved in the future
Check pronunciation:
wash