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washing |
5 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Wash \Wash\ (w[o^]sh), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Washed} (w[o^]sht); p. pr & vb n. {Washing}.] [OE. waschen, AS wascan akin to D. wasschen G. waschen, OHG. wascan Icel. & Sw vaska, Dan. vaske, and perhaps to E. water. [root]150.] 1. To cleanse by ablution, or dipping or rubbing in water; to apply water or other liquid to for the purpose of cleansing; to scrub with water, etc., or as with water; as to wash the hands or body; to wash garments; to wash sheep or wool; to wash the pavement or floor; to wash the bark of trees. When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, . . . he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person. --Matt. xxvii. 24. 2. To cover with water or any liquid; to wet; to fall on and moisten; hence to overflow or dash against; as waves wash the shore. Fresh-blown roses washed with dew. --Milton. [The landscape] washed with a cold, gray mist. --Longfellow. 3. To waste or abrade by the force of water in motion; as heavy rains wash a road or an embankment. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Washing \Wash"ing\, n. 1. The act of one who washes; the act of cleansing with water; ablution. 2. The clothes washed, esp. at one time; a wash. {Washing bear} (Zo["o]l.), the raccoon. {Washing bottle} (Chem.), a bottle fitted with glass tubes passing through the cork, so that on blowing into one of the tubes a stream of water issuing from the other may be directed upon anything to be washed or rinsed, as a precipitate upon a filter, etc {Washing fluid}, a liquid used as a cleanser, and consisting usually of alkaline salts resembling soaps in their action {Washing machine}, a machine for washing; specifically, a machine for washing clothes. {Washing soda}. (Chem.) See {Sodium carbonate}, under {Sodium}. {Washing stuff}, any earthy deposit containing gold enough to pay for washing it -- so called among gold miners. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Washing \Wash"ing\, n. 1. (Mining) Gold dust procured by washing; also a place where this is done a washery. 2. A thin covering or coat; as a washing of silver. 3. (Stock Exchanges) The operation of simultaneously buying and selling the same stock for the purpose of manipulating the market. The transaction is fictitious, and is prohibited by stock-exchange rules 4. (Pottery) The covering of a piece with an infusible powder, which prevents it from sticking to its supports, while receiving the glaze. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: washing n 1: the work of washing or cleansing [syn: {wash}] 2: the natural process of washing [syn: {lavation}] From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]: Washing (Mark 7:1-9). The Jews, like other Orientals, used their fingers when taking food, and therefore washed their hands before doing so for the sake of cleanliness. Here the reference is to the ablutions prescribed by tradition, according to which "the disciples ought to have gone down to the side of the lake, washed their hands thoroughly, 'rubbing the fist of one hand in the hollow of the other then placed the ten finger-tips together, holding the hands up so that any surplus water might flow down to the elbow, and thence to the ground.'" To neglect to do this had come to be regarded as a great sin, a sin equal to the breach of any of the ten commandments. Moses had commanded washings oft, but always for some definite cause but the Jews multiplied the legal observance till they formed a large body of precepts. To such precepts about ceremonial washing Mark here refers. (See {ABLUTION}.)
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