ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Whitewash

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /ˈwaɪtwɒʃ/ · Part of speech noun

Quick meaning: Whitewash is a noun meaning An act of clearing a person's debts, especially through a declaration of bankruptcy by a court.

Meaning

An act of clearing a person's debts, especially through a declaration of bankruptcy by a court.

(uncountable, cooking) The most basic type of thickening agent, consisting of flour blended with water to make a paste.
(countable, cosmetics, historical) A preparation for making the skin look lighter.
White wine, especially Madeira or sherry, drunk after dinner or after taking claret and port; (countable) a glass of such wine.
A complete victory or series of victories without suffering any losses; a clean sweep; also, a victory or series of victories by a very large margin.
Any of several medicinal preparations for treating skin diseases consisting of a mixture of a metallic compound (such as one of lead, sulfur, or zinc) and water.
(uncountable) A mixture of a powdered mineral substance (often slaked lime (containing calcium hydroxide), chalk (calcium carbonate), or both) and water which is used for painting surfaces such as fences and walls bright white.
A thing used to hide mistakes, or to create an appearance of honesty, propriety, etc.; also (often politics), an act of hiding mistakes or creating an appearance of honesty, propriety, etc.; especially, a campaign, investigation, etc., which intentionally hides or overlooks unfavourable facts.

I have heard a whole Sermon against a White-wash.

The houses looked very bright after they had whitewashed the whole neighbourhood.

For the first time in a long time, Australia are being threatened with the prospect of a 5-0 whitewash

Sercial was also used as a sort of white-wash after the Port at dinner, those were the days when people had time to drink both Port and a White wash.

Depending on context, synonyms include cover up, skunk, bleach, vindication, exoneration, hush up.

Common opposites include blackwash.

Related dictionary entries include hush up, exoneration, vindication, whiten, bleaching, wash.

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