whitewash

[hwahyt-wosh, -wawsh, wahyt-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR whitewash ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a composition, as of lime and water or of whiting, size, and water, used for whitening walls, woodwork, etc.

anything, as deceptive words or actions, used to cover up or gloss over faults, errors, or wrongdoings, or absolve a wrongdoer from blame.

Sports Informal. a defeat in which the loser fails to score.

verb (used with object)

to whiten with whitewash.

to cover up or gloss over the faults or errors of; absolve from blame.

Sports Informal. to defeat by keeping the opponent from scoring: The home team whitewashed the visitors eight to nothing.

Origin of whitewash

First recorded in 1585–95; white + wash

Related formswhite·wash·er, nounun·white·washed, adjective

Synonyms for whitewash

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR whitewash ON THESAURUS.COM

5. excuse, vindicate, exonerate.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for whitewash

blanch, varnish, palliate, vindicate, conceal, suppress, extenuate, sugarcoat, camouflage, paint, whiten, launder, white, liberate, exonerate, veneer

Examples from the Web for whitewash

Contemporary Examples of whitewash

In the latest Weekly Standard can be found an editorial under the headline “The Benghazi Whitewash.”
Rand Paul Won’t Let Benghazi Die
Olivia Nuzzi
December 2, 2014
Plus, on cable you no longer have to whitewash the story and appease the masses, so the narratives are getting more interesting.
Jeremy Renner Opens Up About Marriage, His Problems with the Media, and the Future of Hawk-Eye
Marlow Stern
September 29, 2014
She must whitewash these brown men and women, rid them of their savage, slavish ways, and repaint them in her own image.
The Abused Wives of Westeros: A Song of Feminism in ‘Game of Thrones’
Amy Zimmerman
April 30, 2014
I just wasn't cut out to be a whitewash salesman, so to speak.
Bob Kurland, the First Player to Dunk, Was a Pioneer for Big Men
Kevin Fixler
March 21, 2014
How could she have allowed herself to whitewash such monstrosity?
The Fall of India’s Conscience
Tunku Varadarajan
November 25, 2013

Historical Examples of whitewash

You know your uncle's reputation—the past one, I mean, not the whitewash.
Roden's Corner
Henry Seton Merriman
At all events, its colour remained unimpaired by paint or whitewash.
Wilfrid Cumbermede
George MacDonald
They are mere ghosts, their skeletons wrapped in a shroud of whitewash.
Byzantine Churches in Constantinople
Alexander Van Millingen
Mrs. Rabbit wanted to know what he meant by carrying off some of her whitewash.
Sandman's Goodnight Stories
Abbie Phillips Walker
And Mr. Crow said: "The trouble about whitewash is that it's too hard to keep it on."
Hollow Tree Nights and Days
Albert Bigelow Paine

British Dictionary definitions for whitewash

whitewash

noun

a substance used for whitening walls and other surfaces, consisting of a suspension of lime or whiting in water, often with other substances, such as size, added

informal deceptive or specious words or actions intended to conceal defects, gloss over failings, etc

informal a defeat in a sporting contest in which the loser is beaten in every match, game, etc in a seriesthey face the prospect of a whitewash in the five-test series

verb (tr)

to cover or whiten with whitewash

informal to conceal, gloss over, or suppress

informal to defeat (an opponent or opposing team) by winning every match in a series

Derived Formswhitewasher, noun

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

Word Origin and History for whitewash

1590s, "to wash a building surface with white liquid," from white + wash. Figurative sense of "to cover up, conceal" is attested from 1762. Related: Whitewashed; whitewashing. The noun is recorded from 1690s.