Library / English Dictionary

WHITEWASH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A specious or deceptive clearing that attempts to gloss over failings and defects

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("whitewash" is a kind of...):

clearing (the act of freeing from suspicion)

Derivation:

whitewash (exonerate by means of a perfunctory investigation or through biased presentation of data)

whitewash (cover up a misdemeanor, fault, or error)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Wash consisting of lime and size in water; used for whitening walls and other surfaces

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("whitewash" is a kind of...):

wash (a thin coat of water-base paint)

Derivation:

whitewash (cover with whitewash)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A defeat in which the losing person or team fails to score

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("whitewash" is a kind of...):

defeat; licking (an unsuccessful ending to a struggle or contest)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Exonerate by means of a perfunctory investigation or through biased presentation of data

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "whitewash" is one way to...):

acquit; assoil; clear; discharge; exculpate; exonerate (pronounce not guilty of criminal charges)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

whitewash (a specious or deceptive clearing that attempts to gloss over failings and defects)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cover with whitewash

Example:

whitewash walls

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "whitewash" is one way to...):

wash (apply a thin coating of paint, metal, etc., to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "whitewash"):

calcimine (cover with calcimine)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

whitewash (wash consisting of lime and size in water; used for whitening walls and other surfaces)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cover up a misdemeanor, fault, or error

Example:

She tried to gloss over her mistakes

Synonyms:

gloss over; hush up; sleek over; whitewash

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "whitewash" is one way to...):

cover; cover up (hide from view or knowledge)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

whitewash (a specious or deceptive clearing that attempts to gloss over failings and defects)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The road topped a low hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to keep the flames under.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

My home, then, when I at last find a home,—is a cottage; a little room with whitewashed walls and a sanded floor, containing four painted chairs and a table, a clock, a cupboard, with two or three plates and dishes, and a set of tea-things in delf.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

It is, as he said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all stained and streaked with damp and bad weather.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)