Whitewash

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɒʃ

Origin

From white + wash

Full definition of whitewash

Noun

1. A lime and water mixture for painting walls and fences bright white.
• 1952: For walls plaster gave a smooth white surface; or if it was not sufficiently white, or had become discoloured, it could be brightened up with a coat of whitewash or paint. — L.F. Salzman, Building in England, p. 157.
2. (sports) A complete victory or series of victories without suffering any losses; a clean sweep.
• 2010, Andrew Miller, Cricinfo:For the first time in a long time, Australia are being threatened with the prospect of a 5-0 whitewash
3. (obsolete) Any liquid composition for whitening something, such as a wash for making the skin fair.

Verb

1. To paint over with a lime and water mixture so as to brighten up a wall or fence.The houses looked very bright when they whitewashed the whole neighborhood.
2. (idiomatic) To cover over errors or bad actions.In his sermon, the minister didn't try to whitewash over the sins of his church.
3. (dated, transitive) To repay the financial debts of (another person).
4. (baseball, slang, dated, late, 19th century, archaic) To prevent a team from scoring any runs.
5. (acting) To choose white film or television actors to portray characters that were Asian, African, or other races.
6. (pejorative) To make over (an Asian, African, or person of another race, especially a woman) to look Caucasian.

Related terms

• bluewash
• greenwash
• pinkwash