to whitewash
- verb
- /ˈwaɪtˌwɔʃ/
- 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
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She was gonna make me whitewash that old fence again.
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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.
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If you do, I'll trick the neighborhood kids into whitewashing it.
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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
Make or become more white in color
To make something very light in color
To cover walls and ceilings with a thin paint made with water
Phrasal Verbs
How Coated
Surface Forms
Morphology
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.