noun

washing

WOSH-ihng

noun

The act of cleaning something with water.

"Washing the car took most of the afternoon."

Clothes, sheets, or other fabric items that need to be, or have just been, washed; laundry.

"The washing was still hanging on the line when it started to rain."

How to Use Washing

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishEither the act of cleaning something, or the pile of laundry itself.

UK vs US

British English commonly uses "washing" for laundry, where American English tends to just say "laundry."

Common pairings

hang out the washing do the washing a load of washing

washings plural

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Can you complete this real example?

_____ the car took most of the afternoon.

From Old English wæsċing, built from wash plus the -ing suffix.

dashing lashing bashing smashing flashing crashing clashing trashing slashing thrashing splashing squashing