whitewash

Speech parts

1. whitewash - Noun

2. whitewash - Verb

Meaning

Any wash or liquid composition for whitening something, as a wash for making the skin fair.

A composition of line and water, or of whiting size, and water, or the like, used for whitening walls, ceilings, etc.; milk of lime.

To apply a white liquid composition to; to whiten with whitewash.

To make white; to give a fair external appearance to; to clear from imputations or disgrace; hence, to clear (a bankrupt) from obligation to pay debts.

Source: Webster's dictionary

Synonyms

gloss over whiten hide suppress obscure conceal camouflage cover-up soft-pedal paper over wash clear color coat varnish
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Antonyms

laurel show attack understanding communication accuracy
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Hypernyms

wash clear cover defeat discharge clearing

Hyponyms

calcimine

Derivatives

whitewashed whitewashing

Examples

Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a long-handled brush. He surveyed the fence, and all gladness left him and a deep melancholy settled down upon his spirit. Thirty yards of board fence nine feet high. Life to him seemed hollow, and existence but a burden. Mark Twain

For 338 paragraphs the Franks report painted a splendid picture, delineated the light and the shade, and the glowing colours in it, and when Franks got to paragraph 339 he got fed up with the canvas he was painting and chucked a bucket of whitewash over it. James Callaghan

It is no wonder that historians have chosen to hide, deny and whitewash the record here uncovered. Lloyd deMause

There can be no whitewash at the White House. Richard Nixon

People who are afraid of ideas whitewash Reagan like they whitewash Jesus. Sorry to break it to you, but the Reagan era did not consist of eight years of Reagan joking about his naps. Ann Coulter

Like a fence, character cannot be strengthened by whitewash. American Proverb

Close letter words and terms

Whiteville whitewall whiteware whitewashable whitewashed whitewashed houses