wash up

verb

1. to wash (dishes, cutlery, etc) after a meal

2. (intr) to wash one's face and hands

noun

1. the end, outcome of a process

   in the washup, three candidates were elected

Idioms and Phrases

Wash one's hands and face, as in It's time to wash up for dinner . [First half of 1900s] Also see clean up , def. 2.

Clean the utensils after a meal, as in I'll cook dinner if you promise to wash up . [Mid-1700s] Also see do the dishes .

Bring about the end or ruin of; finish. This usage is often used put in the passive, be washed up , as in She's all washed up as a singer . [ Colloquial ; early 1900s]

Example Sentences

Plastic discs from a wastewater treatment works in Swansea have washed up in huge numbers across the city's beach as well as Gower and Neath Port Talbot.

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He spent hours enduring the sun, heat, and flies, waiting where dead fish had washed up.

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Leo recalled the photo of Alan Kurdi, the drowned Syrian Kurdish toddler whose body was washed up on a Turkish beach in 2015, and who became a symbol of the plight of migrants.

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They found Smith washing up in his kitchen, and bloodstains throughout the flat.

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Its store layouts were known for their bright lighting and window displays that often feature piles of toilet tissue or pyramids of washing up powder.

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Related Words

• bankrupt 
• decrease 
• diminish 
• drain 
• empty 
• expend 
• impoverish 
• lessen 
• reduce 
• sap 
• squander 
• undermine 
• use up 
• weaken