WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Wash"ing
Part of Speech : n.
Definition : 1. The act of one who washes; the act of cleansing with water; ablution.

2. The clothes washed, esp. at one time; a wash. Washing bear (Zo?l.), the raccoon. -- Washing bottle (Chem.), a bottle fitted with glass tubes passing through the cork, so that on blowing into one of the tubes a stream of water issuing from the other may be directed upon anything to be washed or rinsed, as a precipitate upon a filter, etc. -- Washing fluid, a liquid used as a cleanser, and consisting usually of alkaline salts resembling soaps in their action. -- Washing machine, a machine for washing; specifically, a machine for washing clothes. -- Washing soda. (Chem.) See Sodium carbonate, under Sodium. -- Washing stuff, any earthy deposit containing gold enough to pay for washing it; -- so called among gold miners.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913