to wash up
7
7.5
- phrasal verb
- /wɔʃ ʌp/
- Informal
:
agotarse
- We was all washed up.
- get washed up
- feel washed up
- think someone is washed up
Examples
-
I'm all washed up...
Fiction book (1994) -
I'm totally washed up.
-
- I said we was washed up.
-
- You know I'm washed up.
-
Yeah, you've been washed up for more than a year.
-
I'm washed up, Hank, and I'm gonna lose everything.
-
I'm washed up, Joe.
-
Did Cotto look washed up in his last fight? Because he could've fooled me.
Blog text (23) -
If you go through with this, no matter whether they kill you or put you in jail... ...even if they say you're sick and crazy, and let you off easy... ...you're finished, Joe, you're washed up!
-
After working all night, he felt completely wash up and needed to rest.
Synonyms
6
4.8
To lose energy or enthusiasm and stop working well
1
8.4
To become very tired or stop working
To be very tired and weak after hard effort
How Exhausted
Surface Forms
Morphology
wash + up
The political noun 'wash up' is a metaphorical extension of the literal components: 'up' signals completion and 'wash' suggests clearing away, so there is a partial compositional clue (clearing/finishing work). However, the specific meaning—an end-of-session period for hurried parliamentary deals—is specialized British political jargon and not directly predictable from the constituents by a B1 learner without prior exposure.
Etymology
The informal adjective washed up uses the image of something that has been washed until it is used up, like clothes that lose colour and strength, so calling someone washed up means they are 'worn out' and no longer able to work well.