[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/whitewash.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / whitewash

[← W](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/W/)

# whitewash

«whitewash» in Mova's school dictionary: **A white liquid made of lime or chalk and water, painted…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

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

### meaning for a pupil

1) A white liquid made of lime or chalk and water, painted on walls and fences to make them white. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/whitewash/#m1)

2) (verb) To paint with whitewash. [tree →](https://md.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://md.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://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/whitewash/#m4)

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

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «whitewash» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/whitewash/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.