Whitewash
['waɪtwɒʃ] or ['waɪtwɑʃ]
Definition
(noun.) a specious or deceptive clearing that attempts to gloss over failings and defects.
(noun.) wash consisting of lime and size in water; used for whitening walls and other surfaces.
(noun.) a defeat in which the losing person or team fails to score.
(verb.) exonerate by means of a perfunctory investigation or through biased presentation of data.
(verb.) cover with whitewash; 'whitewash walls'.
(verb.) cover up a misdemeanor, fault, or error; 'Let's not whitewash the crimes of Stalin'; 'She tried to gloss over her mistakes'.
Typed by Elvin--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) Any wash or liquid composition for whitening something, as a wash for making the skin fair.
(n.) A composition of line and water, or of whiting size, and water, or the like, used for whitening walls, ceilings, etc.; milk of lime.
(v. t.) To apply a white liquid composition to; to whiten with whitewash.
(v. t.) To make white; to give a fair external appearance to; to clear from imputations or disgrace; hence, to clear (a bankrupt) from obligation to pay debts.
Checked by Groves
Unserious Contents or Definition
To dream that you are whitewashing, foretells that you will seek to reinstate yourself with friends by ridding yourself of offensive habits and companions. For a young woman, this dream is significant of well-laid plans to deceive others and gain back her lover who has been estranged by her insinuating bearing toward him.
Checked by Adrienne
Examples
- Anyhow, with whitewash from the wall on my forehead, my obstinacy was adamantine. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- The lime destroys the color, and the color has an effect on the whitewash which makes it crack and peel. William K. David. Secrets of Wise Men, Chemists and Great Physicians.
- Whitewash on the forehead hardens the brain into a state of obstinacy perhaps. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- They are very thick, and are often plastered and whitewashed and capped with projecting slabs of cut stone. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- In front of him was one of the whitewashed stones that marked the edge of the road. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- The walls were whitewashed as white as milk, and the patchwork counterpane made my eyes quite ache with its brightness. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- We took our last look at the city, clinging like a whitewashed wasp's nest to the hill-side, and at eight o'clock in the morning departed. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- There was George Kitely, Lord Ragland's son, went through the Court last week, and was what they call whitewashed, I believe. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- A metal roof reflects so much light that the eyes are dazzled by it, and a whitewashed fence injures the eyes because of the glare which comes from the reflected light. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- With dramatic suddenness he struck a match, and by its light exposed a stain of blood upon the whitewashed wall. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- You would wonder what this privilege of _whitewashing_ is: I will endeavour to give you some idea of the ceremony, as I have seen it performed. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
Checker: Wyatt