-wash

Suffix

-wash

1. To coat with, or a coating of, paint of the colour specified.
   • At present, successive coats of yellowwash fill up the rich decoration of this doorway, so that its beauty is not brought out to the eye of the unpractised visitor.1848, Joshua Fawcett, Church rides in the neighbourhood of Scarborough, Yorkshire, page 22
   • The natives dig clay from both places, in order to paint or rather redwash the walls of their huts.1930, Francis Hamilton, Journal of Francis Buchanan Kept During the Survey of the District of Bhagalpur in 1810-1811
2. To focus on, or an act of focussing on, a supposedly positive aspect of an organisation in order to distract from or downplay negative perceptions.
   • They are likely to remain small and relatively marginalized niche markets, even as some of their rhetoric is appropriated by the TNCs for use as marketing gimmicks and bluewash.2004, John M. Talbot, Grounds for Agreement: The Political Economy of the Coffee Commodity Chain, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, →ISBN, page 210
   • In embracing and promoting their collaborations with WWF, these companies are being encouraged to greenwash their brands with the WWF logo.2012, Guy Pearse, Greenwash: Big Brands and Carbon Scams, Black Inc., →ISBN
3. (informal) An overwhelming victory by a team or entity of the colour specified; often a clean sweep.
   • A Maroonwash will be two-thirds complete on a fast track at Suncorp.2016 June 21, Andrew Webster, Roy Masters, Steve Mascord, Phil Lutton, Brad Walter, with Barrett, Chris, Pengilly, Adam, Proszenko, Adrian, and Chammas, Michael, “State of Origin 2016: Who the...
   • So many were delighted when he was unceremoniously turfed from office in the 2015 redwash, with his USDP losing every single seat in the region.2017 December 28, “Myanmar's newsmakers of 2017”, in Frontier Myanmar