awash

[uh-wosh, uh-wawsh]

See more synonyms for awash on Thesaurus.com

adjective, adverb

Nautical.
1. just level with or scarcely above the surface of the water, so that waves break over the top.
2. overflowing with water, as the upper deck of a ship in a heavy sea.
covered with water.
washing about; tossed about by the waves.

covered, filled, or crowded: streets awash with shoppers; a garden awash in brilliant colors.

Origin of awash

First recorded in 1825–35; a-¹ + wash

Awash

[ah-wahsh]

noun

a river in E Ethiopia, flowing NE through the Great Rift Valley to near the Djibouti border. 500 miles (805 km) long.

Also Ha·wash [hah-wahsh] /ˈhɑ wɑʃ/

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for awash

afloat, inundated, flush, flushed, overflowing, brimming

Examples from the Web for awash

Contemporary Examples of awash

Back then, every single newspaper, website, and news show (even the fake news shows) was awash in gridiron scandal.
How the Media Failed to Nail the NFL
Steve Almond
October 19, 2014
The financial system is awash with money, yet the Federal Reserve accuses both consumers and institutions of hoarding it.
How Young People Are Destroying Liberty
James Poulos
October 11, 2014
Preening, arrogant, vindictive, and inexorable; awash with cash; corrupt; in bed with corporate America and big finance.
Meet The Democrats’ Secret Savior Against Cuomo Corporatism
James Poulos
September 14, 2014
Ichikowitz acknowledged in the interview that the African continent is awash in weapons, particularly small arms.
African Arms-Maker to Obama: Give War a Chance!
Eli Lake
August 5, 2014
And note: None of these schools were anything like awash in funds.
Equality Matters More Than Integration in Schools
John McWhorter
May 15, 2014

Historical Examples of awash

The bull followed, deeper and deeper, till his sides were awash.
Wood Folk at School
William J. Long
Because it's awash an' visible only at the fall o' the spring tides.
The Grain Ship
Morgan Robertson
She were all awash, though, sir, at high-water this morning!
Bob Strong's Holidays
John Conroy Hutcheson
The boat was some fifty yards from land by now, and was awash in a broken current.
Hurricane Island
H. B. Marriott Watson
My idea is they used that in the air, when they were running on the surface or just awash.
The Radio Detectives Under the Sea
A. Hyatt Verrill

British Dictionary definitions for awash

awash

adverb, adjective (postpositive) nautical

at a level even with the surface of the sea
washed over by the waves

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for awash

adj.

1825, originally nautical, "on the level of, flush with," from a- (1) "on" + wash (n.). Figurative use by 1912.