bathe

American  

[beyth] / beɪð /

verb (used with object)

bathed, bathing

1. to immerse (all or part of the body) in water or some other liquid, for cleansing, refreshment, etc.

2. to wet; wash.

3. to moisten or suffuse with any liquid.

4. to apply water or other liquid to, with a sponge, cloth, etc..

   to bathe a wound.

5. to wash over or against, as by the action of the sea, a river, etc..

   incoming tides bathing the coral reef.

6. to cover or surround.

   a shaft of sunlight bathing the room; a morning fog bathing the city.

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verb (used without object)

bathed, bathing

1. to take a bath or sunbath.

2. to swim for pleasure.

3. to be covered or surrounded as if with water.

noun

1. British.

   1. the act of bathing, especially in the sea, a lake, or a river.

   2. a swimming bath.

bathe British  

/ beɪð /

verb

1. (intr) to swim or paddle in a body of open water or a river, esp for pleasure

2. (tr) to apply liquid to (skin, a wound, etc) in order to cleanse or soothe

3. to immerse or be immersed in a liquid

   to bathe machine parts in oil

4. to wash in a bath

5. (tr; often passive) to suffuse

   her face was bathed with radiance

6. (tr) (of water, the sea, etc) to lap; wash

   waves bathed the shore

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noun

1. a swim or paddle in a body of open water or a river

Other Word Forms

• bather noun
• rebathe verb

Etymology

Origin of bathe

before 1000; Middle English bath ( i ) en, Old English bathian, equivalent to bæth bath ¹ + -ian infinitive suffix

Explanation

When you bathe, you wash yourself. A cat bathes itself by licking its fur with a rough tongue. If you're human, don't try that technique. The word bathe generally means to clean yourself in a tub of water — as opposed to shower, which means to wash beneath a stream of water. You can, however, use this verb to describe almost any kind of cleansing: you might bathe the scrape on a child's knee with a soapy cloth. Poetically, the sun can also bathe, or saturate, something with light. In Britain, to bathe also means "to swim."

Example Sentences

She played the album nonstop: “I was known not to take requests, but now I wouldn’t even change the album. Everyone in the bar was obliged to bathe in the sounds of the future.”

From Salon • Mar. 24, 2026

Even with the help of her daughter, who regularly helps bathe her brother, Wu only sleeps three to five hours a night.

From Barron's • Jan. 29, 2026

Olha Kosova’s husband is in the military, and the power cuts made it hard to heave the heavy stroller up to the fourth floor and heat water to bathe her 1-year-old daughter.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 26, 2026

"I struggled to shower, my partner would sometimes have to bathe me; I physically could not care for myself."

From BBC • Jan. 21, 2026

We told Titi Generosa we didn’t have to bathe daily, that we had no chores, that we could eat candy for lunch, and that we could wear whatever we wanted whenever we felt like it.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago

Related Words

• clean
• dip
• douse
• immerse
• rinse
• scour
• scrub
• soak
• steep
• submerge
• wet