backwash

American  

[bak-wosh, -wawsh] / ˈbækˌwɒʃ, -ˌwɔʃ /

noun

1. Nautical. water thrown backward by the motion of oars, propellers, paddle wheels, etc.

2. Aeronautics. the portion of the wash of an aircraft that flows to the rear, usually created by the power plant.

3. a condition, usually undesirable, that continues long after the event which caused it.

   Synonyms:

   upshot, result, consequence, aftermath

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verb (used with object)

1. to affect, as by hitting, rocking, or splashing, with a backwash.

   a powerful cutter backwashing the skiers.

2. to clean out (a clogged filter) by reversing the flow of fluid.

   Backwash the swimming pool's filters regularly.

backwash British  

/ ˈbækˌwɒʃ /

noun

1. a sucking movement of water, such as that of retreating waves Compare swash

2. water washed backwards by the motion of oars or other propelling devices

3. the backward flow of air set up by an aircraft's engines

4. a condition resulting from a previous event; repercussion

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verb

1. (tr) to remove oil from (combed wool)

Other Word Forms

• backwasher
  noun

Etymology

Origin of backwash

First recorded in 1765–75; back ² + wash

Example Sentences

Backwash In a completely different financial league from “Awkward Embraces” and “Jack in a Box” is the strange and heavily promoted serial “Backwash,”currently unspooling on Crackle.com, the Sony online entertainment site.

From New York Times • Dec. 11, 2010

Every time "The Backwash" is mentioned, the reader thinks: "No paper called 'The Backwash' ever existed."

From Books and Persons Being Comments on a Past Epoch 1908-1911 by Bennett, Arnold

Now no paper could possibly be called "The Backwash."

From Books and Persons Being Comments on a Past Epoch 1908-1911 by Bennett, Arnold

Backwash The wind wash caused by the propeller.

From Aces Up by Clarke, Covington

It is the thing they are thinking, and doing, and learning in Backwash, Nebraska, that marks time for these United States.

From Fanny Herself by Ferber, Edna