to acid-wash

2 4.6

Treat jeans with chemicals to make them look faded

phrasal verb
/ˈæsɪd wɑːʃ/

: lavado ácido

Many fashion enthusiasts love to acid-wash their denim to create a unique, faded appearance.
acid-washed jeans
acid-washed denim

Examples

- With huge hair and acid-washed jeans.

Chasing Amy (1997)
With huge hair and acid-washed jeans!

Fiction book (1997)
Acid washed jeans.

3 Day Test (2012)
She was wearing a sweatshirt over acid-washed jeans.

Fiction book (1992)
She pulled on the tight, acid-washed denim shorts studded with metal squares at the cuff and a dark blue jersey with a hood.

Fiction book (1995)
She decided to acid-wash her old denim jacket for a trendy look.
To achieve a vintage style, he will acid-wash the new pair of jeans before wearing them.

Synonyms

to wash out

vsto acid-wash

2 4.0

Make a color on clothes become lighter when you clean them

is an intentional chemical treatment to bleach fabric rather than simple fading

to stonewash

vsto acid-wash

1 5.1

To wash jeans with stones to make them look faded and softer

uses chemicals to bleach and fade fabric rather than mechanical rubbing

How Faded

to bleach

50 3.2

to acid-wash

2 4.6

to stone-wash

Specialized

1 4.6

wash

65 1.0

Surface Forms

acid-wash infinitive

acid-washed past

acid-washed past participle

acid-washing present participle

acid-washes third person singular

Morphology

acid-wash = acid + wash (transparent) = acid + wash

The verb is a direct compound of 'acid' + 'wash' meaning to wash (or treat) with acid/chemicals, so learners knowing the components can infer the meaning.

Etymology

Acid-wash comes from the two parts acid and wash, literally meaning 'washing with acid' because people used a chemical to remove color from denim. So, acid-wash means treating fabric with acid or chemicals to make it look faded or bleached.