launder

[ lawn-der, lahn- ]

/ ˈlɔn dər, ˈlɑn- /

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See synonyms for: launder / laundered / laundering / launderable on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to wash (clothes, linens, etc.).

to wash and iron (clothes).

Informal.

to disguise the source of (illegal or secret funds or profits), usually by transmittal through a foreign bank or a complex network of intermediaries.
to disguise the true nature of (a transaction, operation, or the like) by routing money or goods through one or more intermediaries.

to remove embarrassing or unpleasant characteristics or elements from in order to make more acceptable: He'll have to launder his image if he wants to run for office.

verb (used without object)

to wash laundry.

to undergo washing and ironing: The shirt didn't launder well.

noun

(in ore dressing) a passage carrying products of intermediate grade and residue in water suspension.

Metallurgy. a channel for conveying molten steel to a ladle.

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Origin of launder

1300–50; 1970–75 for def. 3; Middle English: launderer, syncopated variant of lavandere, lavendere washer of linen <Middle French lavandier(e) <Medieval Latin lavandārius (masculine), lavandāria (feminine), equivalent to Latin lavand- (gerund stem of lavāre to wash) + -ārius, -āria-ary; see -er²)

OTHER WORDS FROM launder

laun·der·a·ble, adjectivelaun·der·a·bil·i·ty, nounlaun·der·er, nounre·laun·der, verb (used with object)

un·laun·dered, adjectivewell-laundered, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use launder in a sentence

Accused money launderer in the soccer-mom madam case has a colorful past.
Accused Soccer-Mom Madam’s Money Launderer|Michael Daly|March 23, 2012|DAILY BEAST
You, Cale and Richards, run to fetch a launderer that shall set a mattress in the ante-chamber for this my cousin to lie on.
The Fifth Queen Crowned|Ford Madox Ford
After due reflection I decided to start as a launderer, specialising in washing shirts at ten pfennigs, or one penny, apiece.
Sixteen Months in Four German Prisons|Henry Charles Mahoney

British Dictionary definitions for launder

launder

/ (ˈlɔːndə) /

verb

to wash, sometimes starch, and often also iron (clothes, linen, etc)

(intr) to be capable of being laundered without shrinking, fading, etc

(tr) to process (something acquired illegally) to make it appear respectable, esp to process illegally acquired funds through a legitimate business or to send them to a foreign bank for subsequent transfer to a home bank

noun

a water trough, esp one used for washing ore in mining

Derived forms of launder

launderer, noun

Word Origin for launder

C14 (n, meaning: a person who washes linen): changed from lavender washerwoman, from Old French lavandiere, ultimately from Latin lavāre to wash

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

launder

Origin of launder

OTHER WORDS FROM launder

Words related to launder

How to use launder in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for launder

Derived forms of launder

Word Origin for launder