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# whitewash

noun (whitewash, uncountable; a whitewash in sport); verb (whitewash, whitewashes, whitewashed, whitewashing)

«whitewash» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A white liquid made of lime or chalk and water, painted on walls and fences to make them white. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/whitewash/#m1)
2. (verb) To paint with whitewash. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/whitewash/#m2)
3. (verb) To hide the bad things someone has done so that they look innocent: «The report tried to whitewash the mistakes.» [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/whitewash/#m3)
4. (sport, informal) A win where the losers score nothing or lose every game: «a 5–0 whitewash». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/whitewash/#m4)

### In the lessons

In history, farm buildings, cottages and fences were whitewashed. In The Wind in the Willows, Mole is spring-cleaning and whitewashing his little home with a brush and a pail when spring calls him and he flings the brush down, saying «Bother!» and «O blow!» and «Hang spring-cleaning!». In Tom Sawyer, Tom tricks his friends into whitewashing a fence for him. In news and history, «whitewash» means hiding the truth.

### Examples

- Mole was whitewashing his house when spring called him. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/whitewash/#x1)
- Tom Sawyer got his friends to whitewash the fence. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/whitewash/#x2)
- The farmer whitewashed the barn walls. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/whitewash/#x3)
- The report was called a whitewash because it hid the truth. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/whitewash/#x4)
- England beat them 5–0 — a total whitewash! [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/whitewash/#x5)
- The old cottage was whitewashed every summer. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/whitewash/#x6)

### Note

One word. Uncountable for the paint, countable for the sports sense. The «hiding» sense is a judgement; be fair before using it.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «whitewash» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/whitewash/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«whitewash» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/whitewash.html) on Mova free.