n. | 1. | Any wash or liquid composition for whitening something, as a wash for making the skin fair. |
2. | A composition of line and water, or of whiting size, and water, or the like, used for whitening walls, ceilings, etc.; milk of lime. | |
3. | a glossing over or cover up (of crimes or misfeasance). | |
v. t. | 1. | To apply a white liquid composition to; to whiten with whitewash. |
2. | 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. | |
3. | In various games, to defeat (an opponent) so that he fails to score, or to reach a certain point in the game; to skunk. | |
4. | to gloss over or cover up (crimes or misfeasance). |
Noun | 1. | whitewash - a defeat in which the losing person or team fails to score |
2. | whitewash - wash consisting of lime and size in water; used for whitening walls and other surfaces | |
3. | whitewash - a specious or deceptive clearing that attempts to gloss over failings and defects | |
Verb | 1. | whitewash - cover up a misdemeanor, fault, or error; "Let's not whitewash the crimes of Stalin"; "She tried to gloss over her mistakes" |
2. | whitewash - cover with whitewash; "whitewash walls" | |
3. | whitewash - exonerate by means of a perfunctory investigation or through biased presentation of data |