wash

Everyday

1. To clean something or someone with water and usually soap. tree →
2. To be carried by water: "The boat washed ashore." tree →
3. As a noun, an act of washing: "Give the car a wash." tree →
4. Clothes that are being washed: "in the wash". tree →

In the lessons

In health: wash your hands with soap for 20 seconds after the toilet, before eating and after touching animals; it removes germs. In everyday life: washing up dishes, washing clothes. In science: water can wash soil away (erosion). Phrases: wash up, wash your hands, wash away, washing machine, car wash.

Examples

• Wash your hands before lunch. tree →
• I washed the dishes after dinner. tree →
• Your shirt is in the wash. tree →
• Waves washed the sandcastle away. tree →
• Wash the fruit before you eat it. tree →
• We give the dog a wash on Sundays. tree →
• Wash a cut with clean water. tree →
• Put your clothes in the washing machine. tree →
• "Come and wash with me," he said. tree →

Note

He/she form: "washes" (add -es after sh). "Wash up" means wash dishes in British English, but wash your face and hands in American English. Wash with soap, not just water, to remove germs.

In Jewish tradition

In the Torah it means ritual cleansing with water, as when priests wash hands and feet or a person washes clothes after becoming unclean. The prophets and Psalms use it as a figure of speech for cleansing from sin, as in "wash me from mine iniquity" and "wash thy heart from wickedness."

Interpretation. Ritual washing is a way to become pure. The priests washed before service, and Jews still wash hands before eating bread and in the morning. The prophets' words are read as saying that true purity needs a changed heart and repentance, not water alone.

Examples

• And Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat; (Torah EXO.30.19, JPS 1917) tree →
• that Moses and Aaron and his sons might wash their hands and their feet thereat; (Torah EXO.40.31, JPS 1917) tree →
• But if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh, then he shall bear his iniquity. (Torah LEV.17.16, JPS 1917) tree →
• Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. (Writings PSA.51.4, JPS 1917) tree →
• O Jerusalem, wash thy heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. (Prophets JER.4.14, JPS 1917) tree →
• If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean; (Writings JOB.9.30, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

He/she form: "washes" (add -es after sh). "Wash up" means wash dishes in British English, but wash your face and hands in American English. Wash with soap, not just water, to remove germs.