- To wash the hands of
- Wash Wash (w[o^]sh), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Washed}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Washing}.] [OE. waschen, AS. wascan; akin to D.
wasschen, G. waschen, OHG. wascan, Icel. & Sw. vaska, Dan.
vaske, and perhaps to E. water. [root]150.]
1. To cleanse by ablution, or dipping or rubbing in water; to
apply water or other liquid to for the purpose of
cleansing; to scrub with water, etc., or as with water;
as, to wash the hands or body; to wash garments; to wash
sheep or wool; to wash the pavement or floor; to wash the
bark of trees.
[1913 Webster]
When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, . . . he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person. --Matt. xxvii. 24. [1913 Webster]
2. To cover with water or any liquid; to wet; to fall on and moisten; hence, to overflow or dash against; as, waves wash the shore. [1913 Webster]
Fresh-blown roses washed with dew. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
[The landscape] washed with a cold, gray mist. --Longfellow. [1913 Webster]
3. To waste or abrade by the force of water in motion; as, heavy rains wash a road or an embankment. [1913 Webster]
4. To remove by washing to take away by, or as by, the action of water; to drag or draw off as by the tide; -- often with away, off, out, etc.; as, to wash dirt from the hands. [1913 Webster]
Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins. --Acts xxii. 16. [1913 Webster]
The tide will wash you off. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
5. To cover with a thin or watery coat of color; to tint lightly and thinly. [1913 Webster]
6. To overlay with a thin coat of metal; as, steel washed with silver. [1913 Webster]
7. To cause dephosphorisation of (molten pig iron) by adding substances containing iron oxide, and sometimes manganese oxide. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
8. To pass (a gas or gaseous mixture) through or over a liquid for the purpose of purifying it, esp. by removing soluble constituents. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
{To wash gold}, etc., to treat earth or gravel, or crushed ore, with water, in order to separate the gold or other metal, or metallic ore, through their higher density.
{To wash the hands of}. See under {Hand}. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
