bathe

[beyth]

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.

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

/ 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

noun

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

Other Word Forms

• rebathe verb
• bather noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of bathe¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of bathe¹

Old English bathian ; related to Old Norse batha , Old High German badōn

Example Sentences

Speaking of a woman mistakenly believed to be South Asian, one group member — Vermont state Sen. Samuel Douglass, wrote: “She just didn’t bathe often.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

At a sauna in Peckham, south London, young professionals sit on scorching hot, wood-panelled benches, dressed in swimming trunks and bathing suits.

Read more on BBC

The New Jersey plaintiff was 14 when she posed for a photo in which she was wearing a bathing suit.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

In 1921, hoteliers in Atlantic City subverted that idea by creating their own revue of “bathing beauties,” held the week after Labor Day as a way to extend the summer season.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The ideal is to have as much or more potassium in your diet as sodium, which is very difficult because our food environment is bathed in salt.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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