awash
awash
1 American
[uh-wosh, uh-wawsh]
/ əˈwɒʃ, əˈwɔʃ /
adjective
-
Nautical.
-
just level with or scarcely above the surface of the water, so that waves break over the top.
-
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.
Awash
2
American
[ah-wahsh]
/ ˈɑ wɑʃ /
Also
Hawash
noun
awash
British
/ əˈwɒʃ /
adverb
-
at a level even with the surface of the sea
-
washed over by the waves
Etymology
Origin of awash
Explanation
When something's awash, it's doused or covered with water. If your canoe is awash with seawater, it's time to start bailing. A beach might be awash during high tide, and your beach cottage could be awash after a tropical rain. The decks of a boat are often described as being awash during a storm, flooded with water. Things can be figuratively awash, too: "The movie premiere was awash with photographers and fans." Awash was originally a nautical word meaning "flush with," from the 15th-century meaning of wash, "land alternately covered and exposed by the sea."
Vocabulary lists containing awash
The Cay
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Wolf Hollow
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Call It Courage
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
We’re awash in apocalyptic anxieties about rogue technology.
From Slate ● Sep. 27, 2026
By early evening, the stands were awash with green and white, tricolours draped over shoulders.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
He favors balmy tracks awash in warm synthesizers and gentle guitar, often with a thick beat underpinning it all.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
TikTok and Instagram are awash with videos of foreigners trying the fiery snacks.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
In the corner of my eye, the walls rippled, first becoming awash with cracking flames, then receding into the churning black waters of the Atlantic.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
In the mid-1990s, White, then–graduate student Haile-Selassie, and others began an intense search for Lucy’s ancestors in the Middle Awash region of Ethiopia.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 3, 2024
Awash in cash, the kingdom is trying to build a new public image.
From New York Times ● Jun. 16, 2023
Awash in austere overhead lighting, Kanai sat in a small office at the headquarters of Mutual Trading just outside Little Tokyo.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 3, 2023
Awash with cash after a year of high oil prices, fossil fuel producers have the firepower to invest in green energy.
From Reuters ● Jan. 20, 2023
Awash in self-pity, I even longed for Aunt Ivy.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
