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Glite Dictionary
to hand-wash

to hand-wash

5 2.8
Wash something with your hands instead of in a machine
  • phrasal verb
  • /hænd-wɔʃ/
translation icon : lavar a mano
  • If you hand-wash dishes, be sure to air-dry them in a rack, as dirty or wet dish towels can recontaminate clean dishes.
  • hand-wash only

It's just John Lewis white bone China hand wash only not for the microwave.

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Examples

  • If I wash them with detergent, it may all disappear, so I'll stick to hand washing them.

    Blog text (1)

  • As for doing laundry loads twice per week, she could avoid that and simply hand wash her underwear and socks and hang them to dry every night.

    Blog text (19)

  • You could hand wash the covers, but to me that isn't worth the trouble.

    Blog text (5)

  • You should absolutely hand wash and dry very, very well (even over heat on the stove or in the oven).

    Blog text (5)

  • And yes, the plastic storage caps are really good; just hand wash them to avoid warping so you get a good seal.

    Blog text (10)

  • Throughout her life, she had been heating water with firewood, and she had hand-washed laundry for seven children.

    Blog text (2)

  • Be sure to delicately hand wash and dry merino items so they won't felt.

    Blog text (7)

  • I dunk the filter pieces, rinse, hand wash them in hot soapy water, rinse, and they are like new.

    Blog text (16)

  • Hand wash your knives, but don't drop them in a sinkful of dirty dishes where they'll get knocked around.

    Blog text (34)

  • To keep the fabric looking new, I always hand-wash my delicate sweaters instead of using the washing machine.

Synonyms

to handwash
vsto hand-wash
1 3.0

To wash clothes by hand instead of using a machine

has identical meaning but is written with a hyphen in some forms

Antonyms

to machine-wash
2.1

Wash clothes in a washing machine rather than by hand

How Washed

dry cleaning
45 2.5
to hand-wash
5 2.8
rinse
8 1.0

Surface Forms

hand-wash infinitive
hand-washed past
hand-washed past participle
hand-washing present participle
hand-washes third person singular

Morphology

hand-wash = hand + wash (transparent) = hand + wash

The meaning is a straightforward combination of 'hand' + 'wash' (wash by hand), which learners can directly infer.

Etymology

Hand-wash combines the simple words hand and wash, so it literally means 'wash by hand' rather than in a machine. That's why a label that says to hand-wash tells you to clean something gently with your hands, not in a washing machine.