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Glite Dictionary
🧼 Cleaning hands 🫧 Washing by hand
handwashing

handwashing

1.8
Washing clothes or dishes by hand instead of using a machine
  • noun
  • /ˈhændˌwɔʃɪŋ/
translation icon : lavado a mano
  • He spent the afternoon handwashing the dishes after the family dinner.

Examples

  • I prefer handwashing my delicate clothes.

  • Some people prefer handwashing their clothes to make them last longer.

  • Delicate fabrics often require handwashing to prevent damage from harsh machine cycles.

  • After dinner, we need to do some handwashing.

  • She prefers handwashing her delicate items to make sure they stay in good condition.

  • He spent the afternoon doing handwashing because his washing machine was broken.

  • After a day of camping, the only option for clean dishes was handwashing them in the river.

Antonyms

to machine-wash
2.1

Wash clothes in a washing machine rather than by hand

How Manual

handwashing
1.8

Surface Forms

handwashing singular
handwashings plural

Morphology

handwashing = handwash (transparent) = hand + wash + ing

The noun is formed from the verb 'handwash' (hand + wash) and denotes the action of washing items by hand.

Etymology

Handwashing can also mean cleaning clothes, dishes, or other items 'by hand' instead of using a machine; think of hand as in handmade and wash as 'to clean with water', so it means you clean these things yourself to avoid machine damage.