Wash vs. Rinse

Wash vs. Rinse — Is There a Difference?
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Difference Between Wash and Rinse

Washverb

To clean with water.

The car is so dirty, we need to wash it.Dishwashers wash dishes much more efficiently than most humans.

Rinseverb

(transitive) To wash (something) quickly using water and no soap.

You'd better rinse that stain before putting the shirt in the washing machine.

Washverb

(transitive) To move or erode by the force of water in motion.

Heavy rains wash a road or an embankment.The flood washed away houses.

Rinseverb

(transitive) To remove soap from (something) using water.

Rinse the dishes after you wash them.

Washverb

(mining) To separate valuable material (such as gold) from worthless material by the action of flowing water.

Rinseverb

To thoroughly defeat in an argument, fight or other competition.

You got rinsed.
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Washverb

(intransitive) To clean oneself with water.

I wash every morning after getting up.

Rinsenoun

The action of rinsing.

I'll just give this knife a quick rinse.

Washverb

(transitive) To cover with water or any liquid; to wet; to fall on and moisten.

Waves wash the shore.

Rinsenoun

A liquid used to rinse, now particularly a hair dye.

I had a henna rinse yesterday.

Washverb

(intransitive) To move with a lapping or swashing sound; to lap or splash.

to hear the water washing

Rinsenoun

a liquid preparation used on wet hair to give it a tint

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Washverb

(intransitive) To be eroded or carried away by the action of water.

Rinsenoun

the removal of soap with clean water in the final stage of washing

Washverb

To be cogent, convincing; to withstand critique.

Rinsenoun

the act of giving a light tint to the hair

Washverb

(intransitive) To bear without injury the operation of being washed.

Some calicoes do not wash.

Rinsenoun

washing lightly without soap

Washverb

(intransitive) To be wasted or worn away by the action of water, as by a running or overflowing stream, or by the dashing of the sea; said of road, a beach, etc.

Rinseverb

wash off soap or remaining dirt

Washverb

To cover with a thin or watery coat of colour; to tint lightly and thinly.

Rinseverb

clean with some chemical process

Washverb

To overlay with a thin coat of metal.

steel washed with silver

Rinseverb

rinse one's mouth and throat with mouthwash;

gargle with this liquid

Washverb

(transitive) To cause dephosphorization of (molten pig iron) by adding substances containing iron oxide, and sometimes manganese oxide.

Washverb

(transitive) To pass (a gas or gaseous mixture) through or over a liquid for the purpose of purifying it, especially by removing soluble constituents.

Washnoun

The process or an instance of washing or being washed by water or other liquid.

I'm going to have a quick wash before coming to bed.My jacket needs a wash.

Washnoun

A liquid used for washing.

Washnoun

A lotion or other liquid with medicinal or hygienic properties.

mouth washhand wash

Washnoun

The quantity of clothes washed at a time.

There's a lot in that wash: maybe you should split it into two piles.

Washnoun

(arts) A smooth and translucent painting created using a paintbrush holding a large amount of solvent and a small amount of paint.

Washnoun

The sound of breaking of the seas, e.g., on the shore.

I could hear the wash of the wave.

Washnoun

The wake of a moving ship.

The ship left a big washSail away from the wash to avoid rocking the boat.

Washnoun

The turbulence left in the air by a moving airplane.

Washnoun

Ground washed away to the sea or a river.

Washnoun

A piece of ground washed by the action of water, or sometimes covered and sometimes left dry; the shallowest part of a river, or arm of the sea; also, a bog; a marsh.

Washnoun

A shallow body of water.

Washnoun

In arid and semi-arid regions, the normally dry bed of an intermittent or ephemeral stream; an arroyo or wadi.

Washnoun

A situation in which losses and gains or advantages and disadvantages are equivalent; a situation in which there is no net change.

Washnoun

A fictitious kind of sale of stock or other securities between parties of one interest, or by a broker who is both buyer and seller, and who minds his own interest rather than that of his clients.

Washnoun

Waste liquid, the refuse of food, the collection from washed dishes, etc., from a kitchen, often used as food for pigs; pigwash.

Washnoun

In distilling, the fermented wort before the spirit is extracted.

Washnoun

A mixture of dunder, molasses, water, and scummings, used in the West Indies for distillation.

Washnoun

A thin coat of paint or metal laid on anything for beauty or preservation.

Washnoun

(nautical) The blade of an oar.

Washnoun

The backward current or disturbed water caused by the action of oars, or of a steamer's screw or paddles, etc.

Washnoun

Ten strikes, or bushels, of oysters.

Washnoun

(architecture) The upper surface of a member or material when given a slope to shed water; hence, a structure or receptacle shaped so as to receive and carry off water.

a carriage wash in a stable

Washnoun

(television) A lighting effect that fills a scene with a chosen colour.

Washnoun

a thin coat of water-base paint

Washnoun

the work of cleansing (usually with soap and water)

Washnoun

the dry bed of an intermittent stream (as at the bottom of a canyon)

Washnoun

the erosive process of washing away soil or gravel by water (as from a roadway);

from the house they watched the washout of their newly seeded lawn by the water

Washnoun

the flow of air that is driven backwards by an aircraft propeller

Washnoun

a watercolor made by applying a series of monochrome washes one over the other

Washnoun

garments or white goods that can be cleaned by laundering

Washnoun

any enterprise in which losses and gains cancel out;

at the end of the year the accounting department showed that it was a wash

Washverb

clean with some chemical process

Washverb

cleanse (one's body) with soap and water

Washverb

cleanse with a cleaning agent, such as soap, and water;

Wash the towels, please!

Washverb

move by or as if by water;

The swollen river washed away the footbridge

Washverb

be capable of being washed;

Does this material wash?

Washverb

admit to testing or proof;

This silly excuse won't wash in traffic court

Washverb

separate dirt or gravel from (precious minerals)

Washverb

apply a thin coating of paint, metal, etc., to

Washverb

remove by the application of water or other liquid and soap or some other cleaning agent;

he washed the dirt from his coatThe nurse washed away the bloodCan you wash away the spots on the windows?he managed to wash out the stains

Washverb

form by erosion;

The river washed a ravine into the mountainside

Washverb

make moist;

The dew moistened the meadows

Washverb

wash or flow against;

the waves laved the shore

Washverb

to cleanse (itself or another animal) by licking;

The cat washes several times a day