# wash

> English word · Verb · IPA /wɒʃ/ · frequency rank #3,271

## Definitions
1. To clean with water.
2. To carry away or erode by the force of water in motion.
3. To be eroded or carried away by the action of water.
4. To clean oneself with water.
5. To cover with water or any liquid; to wet; to fall on and moisten.
6. To move with a lapping or swashing sound; to lap or splash.
7. To be cogent, convincing; to withstand critique.
8. To bear without damage the operation of being washed; to be suitable for washing.
9. To cover with a thin or watery coat of colour; to tint lightly and thinly.
10. To overlay with a thin coat of metal.
11. To pass or extract (a gas or gaseous mixture) through or over a liquid for the purpose of purifying it, especially by removing soluble constituents.
12. To separate valuable material (such as gold) from worthless material by the action of flowing water.
13. To cause dephosphorization of (molten pig iron) by adding substances containing iron oxide, and sometimes manganese oxide.
14. To mix up tiles (before a new game) to make them random; to shuffle.

## Etymology
From Middle English wasshen, waschen, weschen (“to wash”), from Old English wascan (“to wash”), from Proto-West Germanic *waskan (“to wash”), from Proto-Germanic *waskaną, *watskaną (“to wash, get wet”), from Proto-Indo-European *wed- (“wet, water”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian waaske (“to wash”), West Frisian waskje (“to wash”), Dutch wassen, wasschen (“to wash”), Low German waschen (“to wash”), German waschen (“to wash”), Danish vaske (“to wash”), Faroese and Icelandic vaska (“to wash”), Norwegian Bokmål vaske (“to wash”), Norwegian Nynorsk vaske, vaska (“to wash”), Swedish vaska (“to wash”).
The noun is cognate with Saterland Frisian Waaske (“wash”), West Frisian wask (“wash”), Dutch was (“wash”), Low German Wask, Waske (“wash”), German Wäsche (“wash”), Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish vask (“wash”).

## Easily confused with
- **WS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wash-vs-ws)
- **way** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wash-vs-way)
- **wax** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wash-vs-wax)
- **Wes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wash-vs-wes)
- **wat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wash-vs-wat)
- **wis** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wash-vs-wis)
- **WSJ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wash-vs-wsj)
- **WTH** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wash-vs-wth)
- **WAV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wash-vs-wav)
- **WSU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wash-vs-wsu)
- **with** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wash-vs-with)
- **west** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wash-vs-west)
- **wish** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wash-vs-wish)
- **ways** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wash-vs-ways)
- **wave** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wash-vs-wave)
- **wise** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wash-vs-wise)
- **watt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wash-vs-watt)
- **woah** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wash-vs-woah)
- **wasp** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wash-vs-wasp)
- **wavy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wash-vs-wavy)

## Common misspellings (6)
`awsh`, `wahs`, `washh`, `wassh`, `wsah`, `wwash`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/wash