car wash
Americannoun
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car washes
plural
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a place or structure having special equipment for washing automobiles.
-
the washing of an automobile.
The service station is offering free car washes to draw customers.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of car wash
First recorded in 1955–60
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.
He installed himself courtside, the Windows Clippy among the die-hards, leaping from his seat after dunks and wiggling like one of those inflatable tubes at a car wash.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
Customs and Border Patrol detained at the Santa Ana car wash that day.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2026
One is a wholesale business in Newcastle upon Tyne, the other is a car wash in Cambridgeshire.
From BBC ● May 18, 2026
She’s looking for work as a cook after being laid off from a car wash in January.
From Salon ● Apr. 9, 2026
Rather than go to the car wash, they can call Tony Lancaster, who comes around in his van and brings the water, too.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
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.
