verb
launder
LAWN-duh
verb
1
To wash and often iron clothes or fabric.
"The hotel launders the guests' sheets and towels every day."
2
To disguise the illegal origin of money by passing it through legitimate businesses or transactions.
"The gang used a chain of car washes to launder their drug profits."
How to Use Launder
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishTo wash clothes, or — in a very different, criminal sense — to make illegally-earned money look clean and legitimate.
Common pairings
launder money
launder clothes
money laundering
Word Forms
laundered past tense, launders plural, launders singular
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The hotel _____ the guests' sheets and towels every day.
Etymology
Shortened from Middle English lavender ("washerwoman"), from Old French lavandiere, ultimately from Latin lavo, "to wash."