bathe

/beɪð/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

South Asia/beð/

bathe verb: to clean oneself by immersion in water or using water; to take a bath, have a bath.

Image: Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Verb

bathe (third-person singular simple present bathes, present participle bathing, simple past and past participle bathed)

(intransitive) To clean oneself by immersion in water or using water; to take a bath, have a bath.
- We do not bathe to make ourselves clean, but to keep clean, and for the sake of its health-giving and invigorating effects. Once a week a warm bath, at about 100°, may be used, with plenty of soap, in order to thoroughly cleanse the pores of the skin.1876, Eliza Bisbee Duffey, Our Behaviour: A Manual of Etiquette and Dress of the Best American Society, Philadelphia
- A Greek historian Phylarchus describes a white root indigenous to India that caused eunuchism when a person bathed in water in which the root was steeped.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 123
(intransitive) To immerse oneself, or part of the body, in water for pleasure or refreshment; to swim.
- 'I feel very guilty,' she said sitting down beside him. 'But I've been bathing every day while you've been lying here.'1953, Ian Fleming, “Vesper”, in Casino Royale, London: Pan Books, published 1955, page 150
(transitive) To clean a person by immersion in water or using water; to give someone a bath.
- We bathe our baby before going to bed; other parents do it in the morning if they have time.
(transitive) To apply water or other liquid to; to suffuse or cover with liquid.
- She bathed her eyes with liquid to remove the stinging chemical.
- The nurse bathed his wound with a sponge.
(figuratively, intransitive, transitive) To cover or surround.
- The room was bathed in moonlight.
- A dense fog bathed the city streets.
(intransitive) To sunbathe.
- The women bathed in the sun.

Noun

bathe (plural bathes)

(UK, colloquial) The act of swimming or bathing, especially in the sea, a lake, or a river; a swimming bath.
- I'm going to have a midnight bathe tonight.
- I do not feel disposed to ask any questions, but devote myself entirely to the Governoress, who takes me over to the bathing-house in her boat. I have had my bathe, and am strolling along the sands, waiting for the Countess.1885, Mrs. Forrester, “Retribution”, in Although He Was a Lord and Other Tales (Collection of British Authors, Tauchnitz Edition; volume 2327), Leipzig: [Christian] Bernhard Tauchnitz, page 140

bathe meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

bathe in Hindi

to clean oneself with water: स्नान करना snān karnā

bathe in Tamil

to clean oneself with water: குளி kuḷi, நீராடு nīrāṭu
to clean a person by immersion in water: குளிப்பாட்டு kuḷippāṭṭu, நீராட்டு nīrāṭṭu
act of bathing: குளியல் kuḷiyal

bathe in Marathi

to bathe, take a bath: नहाणे nahāṇe
to bathe, to take a bath: आंघोळ करणे āṅghoḷa karaṇe
to bathe, clean, wash: आंघोळ घालणे āṅghoḷa ghālaṇe

bathe in Urdu

to clean oneself with water: غسل کرنا ġusl karnā, حمام کرنا hammām karnā

More languagesFewer languages

bathe in Bengali: নাওয়া naoẇa, বুড় পাড়া buṛ paṛa
bathe in Telugu: స్నానమాడు snānamāḍu
bathe in Malayalam: കുളിക്കുക kuḷikkuka
bathe in Kannada: ಮೀ mī
bathe in Punjabi: ਨਹਾਉਣ ਲਈ
bathe in Gujarati: નહાવું nahāvũ
bathe in Odia: ଗାଧିବା gādhibā
bathe in Sanskrit: स्नाति snāti, उनत्ति unatti
bathe in Assamese: গা ধো ga dhü, নোৱা nüa
bathe in Nepali: नुहाउनु nuhāunu
bathe in Tagalog: maligo
bathe in Arabic: اِسْتَحَمَّ istaḥamma, اِغْتَسَلَ iḡtasala
bathe in Malay: mandi
bathe in Indonesian: mandi, memandikan, membasuh, bermandikan
bathe in Persian: حمام کردن hammâm kardan, آبتنی کردن âbtani kardan
bathe in Thai: อาบ àap, อาบน้ำ àap-náam
bathe in Vietnamese: tắm, tắm rửa, tắm gội, rửa ráy
bathe in Myanmar: ရေချိုး rehkyui:

Examples of bathe in a sentence

The incoming tides bathed the coral reef.
Vorpal, eupeptically bubbling greetings, bathed a sausage in a swimming plate of sauce.1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 22:

All 28 example sentences with bathe

Forms of bathe

Verb
third-person singular present	bathes
present participle	bathing
past participle	bathed
past	bathed
Noun
plural	bathes

Past tense of bathe: bathed

Origin of bathe

From Middle English bathen, from Old English baþian (“to bathe, wash”), from Proto-West Germanic *baþōn, from Proto-Germanic *baþōną (“to bathe”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₁- (“to warm”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian boadje (“to bathe”), Dutch baden (“to bathe”), German Low German baden (“to bathe”), German baden (“to bathe”), Danish bade (“to bathe”), Swedish bada (“to bathe”), Icelandic baða (“to bathe”). More at bath. Compare also bask.

Words formed from bathe

Words that rhyme with bathe

1 more rhymesFewer rhymes

swathe

Questions about bathe

What does bathe mean?: Bathe means to clean oneself by immersion in water or using water; to take a bath, have a bath.
What is bathe in Hindi?: Bathe in Hindi is स्नान करना (snān karnā). See Bathe meaning in Hindi.
How do you use bathe in a sentence?: The incoming tides bathed the coral reef.
What part of speech is bathe?: Bathe can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce bathe?: Bathe is pronounced /beɪð/.
What is the past tense of bathe?: The past tense of bathe is bathed.

Words near bathe in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-bathe.ogg.

Cite this entry: “bathe.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bathe. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.