Skip to main content
to whitewash

to whitewash

11 4.3
To cover walls with a thin white paint made from lime and water
  • verb
  • /ˈwaɪtˌwɔʃ/
translation icon : encalar
  • Look, if you're gonna whitewash, son, look, let your brush go up and down, up.
  • whitewash a wall
  • whitewash a tree
  • whitewash tree trunks

Examples

  • She was gonna make me whitewash that old fence again.

  • Every time I visit my father, I offer to whitewash the whole house.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • My folks were too poor to paint and too proud to whitewash.

  • If you do, I'll trick the neighborhood kids into whitewashing it.

  • In general, the style calls for the walls to be whitewashed, and then the effect can be quite pleasing.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • Nancy turned from the chickens and quickly climbed the short, steep bank towards the whitewashed brick farmhouse.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • I hurried down the far line of bulbs, scrabbling over the whitewashed stones, and met Pete in the middle.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • The darkest houses and those lacking aeration had to be whitewashed by painters who had survived the contagion.

    Academic text (2013)
  • Here and there were basements newly whitewashed, roofs and chimneys newly tuck-pointed, but otherwise it was unchanged.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • To improve the school environment, they decided to whitewash the old walls of the building.

Synonyms

to whiten
vsto whitewash
8 2.8

Make or become more white in color

is a process of applying a pale liquid to surfaces not merely changing color
to white
vsto whitewash
8 5.9

To make something very light in color

is identical in meaning but appears in a different word form in text
to calcimine
vsto whitewash
  • Archaic
9.9

To cover walls and ceilings with a thin paint made with water

is the general mixture used to make surfaces paler and disinfect them

Phrasal Verbs

To hide problems or make them seem less serious

To try to hide a scandal by giving wrong information to the public

How Coated

to whitewash
11 4.3
to calcimine
  • Archaic
9.9
wash
  • Specialized
10 6.7
to stain
113 3.2

Surface Forms

whitewash infinitive
whitewashed past participle
whitewashing present participle
whitewashes third person singular

Morphology

whitewash = white + wash (transparent) = white + wash

The verb denotes performing the action associated with the compound noun (applying the white wash), a direct and standard extension.

Etymology

Whitewash as a verb originally meant to 'wash' a wall with a white lime mix to make it look clean and new. So, to whitewash a building is to cover it with a white coat to freshen it up.