Word Games Pro Dictionary

whitewash

noun verb

A lime and water mixture for painting walls and fences bright white.

Quick reference

Word Facts

Word length
9
Starts with
W
Ends with
H
Contains
HI
Scrabble score
21
Database source
OEWN 2025 Core

How it sounds

Pronunciation

/ˈwaɪtwɒʃ/ /ˈwaɪtwɒʃ/

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Audio Pronunciation

Audio pronunciation is unavailable for this word.

Meaning

Definitions

noun

  1. A lime and water mixture for painting walls and fences bright white.

  2. A complete victory or series of victories without suffering any losses; a clean sweep.

  3. Any liquid composition for whitening something, such as a wash for making the skin fair.

  4. A campaign to paper over unfavorable elements.

verb

  1. To paint over with a lime and water mixture so as to brighten up a wall or fence.

    “The houses looked very bright when they whitewashed the whole neighborhood.”

  2. To cover over errors or bad actions.

    “In his sermon, the minister didn't try to whitewash over the sins of his church.”

  3. To repay the financial debts of (another person).

  4. (late, 19th century) To prevent a team from scoring any runs.

  5. In various games, to defeat (an opponent) so that they fail to score, or to reach a certain point in the game; to skunk.

  6. To make over (a person or character, a group, an event, etc) so that it is or seems more white, for example by applying makeup to a person, or by covering over the participation of people of color in an event and focusing on only white participation.

In context

Example Sentences

The houses looked very bright when they whitewashed the whole neighborhood.
In his sermon, the minister didn't try to whitewash over the sins of his church.

Opposite words

Antonyms

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