"whitewash" meaning in English

See whitewash in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈwaɪtwɒʃ/ Audio: en-au-whitewash.ogg [Australia] Forms: whitewash [singular], whitewashes [plural]
Etymology: white + wash Etymology templates: {{compound|white|wash}} white + wash Head templates: {{noun|2=whitewashes}} [POS TABLE]
  1. The action of whitewashing something.
    Sense id: simple-whitewash-en-noun-3CUweouH
  2. White paint.
    Sense id: simple-whitewash-en-noun-cS9PjFdE

Verb

IPA: /ˈwaɪtwɒʃ/ Audio: en-au-whitewash.ogg [Australia] Forms: whitewash [canonical], whitewashes [third-person, singular], whitewashed [past], whitewashed [past, participle], whitewashing [present, participle]
Etymology: white + wash Etymology templates: {{compound|white|wash}} white + wash Head templates: {{verb|whitewash|es}} [POS TABLE]
  1. Someone whitewashes something when they try to hide anything that is wrong with it and try to make it look good.
    Sense id: simple-whitewash-en-verb-B8pry0AF
  2. Someone whitewashes something when they paint it with a white paint.
    Sense id: simple-whitewash-en-verb-Bb9XpKBi
{
  "categories": [],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "white",
        "2": "wash"
      },
      "expansion": "white + wash",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "white + wash",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "whitewash",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "whitewashes",
      "tags": [
        "third-person",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "whitewashed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "whitewashed",
      "tags": [
        "past",
        "participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "whitewashing",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "participle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "whitewash",
        "2": "es"
      },
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "He tried to whitewash the thing that happened last year so that he could be elected President."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Someone whitewashes something when they try to hide anything that is wrong with it and try to make it look good."
      ],
      "id": "simple-whitewash-en-verb-B8pry0AF"
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "She whitewashed the wall."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Someone whitewashes something when they paint it with a white paint."
      ],
      "id": "simple-whitewash-en-verb-Bb9XpKBi"
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈwaɪtwɒʃ/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-whitewash.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "whitewash"
}

{
  "categories": [],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "white",
        "2": "wash"
      },
      "expansion": "white + wash",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "white + wash",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "whitewash",
      "tags": [
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "whitewashes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "2": "whitewashes"
      },
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "They didn't tell you the whole story. That was just a whitewash."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The action of whitewashing something."
      ],
      "id": "simple-whitewash-en-noun-3CUweouH"
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "He covered the fence with whitewash."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "White paint."
      ],
      "id": "simple-whitewash-en-noun-cS9PjFdE"
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈwaɪtwɒʃ/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-whitewash.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "whitewash"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "Compound terms"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "white",
        "2": "wash"
      },
      "expansion": "white + wash",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "white + wash",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "whitewash",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "whitewashes",
      "tags": [
        "third-person",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "whitewashed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "whitewashed",
      "tags": [
        "past",
        "participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "whitewashing",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "participle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "whitewash",
        "2": "es"
      },
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "He tried to whitewash the thing that happened last year so that he could be elected President."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Someone whitewashes something when they try to hide anything that is wrong with it and try to make it look good."
      ]
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "She whitewashed the wall."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Someone whitewashes something when they paint it with a white paint."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈwaɪtwɒʃ/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-whitewash.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "whitewash"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "Compound terms"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "white",
        "2": "wash"
      },
      "expansion": "white + wash",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "white + wash",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "whitewash",
      "tags": [
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "whitewashes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "2": "whitewashes"
      },
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "They didn't tell you the whole story. That was just a whitewash."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The action of whitewashing something."
      ]
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "He covered the fence with whitewash."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "White paint."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈwaɪtwɒʃ/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-whitewash.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "whitewash"
}

Download raw JSONL data for whitewash meaning in English (1.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-04-26 from the simplewiktionary dump dated 2025-04-20 using wiktextract (89e900c and ea19a0a). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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