wash-out

Noun

washout (countable and uncountable, plural washouts)

1. An act of washing or cleaning the inside of something.
   • No. 21C9 was in need of a boiler washout and though she was carefully and assiduously fired and use made of the fire-irons during the run, it was not possible to maintain steam, which often fell as low as 210 lb.1944 March–April, E. S. Waterhouse, “Two Footplate Rides on ‘Merchant Navy’ Locomotives”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 88
2. An appliance designed to wash out the inside of something.
   • The cistern was fitted with washouts and air-valves.
3. The erosion of a relatively soft surface by a sudden gush of water; also, a channel produced by this action.
   1. A breach in a railway or road caused by flooding.
      • In a message to NR [National Rail] staff on August 14, Haines said: "It's not just Scotland impacted by extreme wet weather. This week we have seen, and will continue to see, heavy rain fall. This has caused washouts and landslips across the length and breadth of Great Britain."2020 August 26, “Network News: [Grant] Shapps Orders Rapid Review of Flash Flood Resilience from NR”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 9
4. (slang) A sporting fixture or other event that cannot be completed because of rain.
   • The Austin picnic was a washout, rained all day.1939, The Railroad Telegrapher, volume 56, Peoria, Ill.: Order of Railroad Telegraphers, →OCLC, page 779

   Synonyms:

   rainout

5. (slang) An overwhelming victory; a landslide.
   • Illawarra turns blue in Liberal washout [title]2011 March 28, “Illawarra turns blue in Liberal washout”, in ABC News, Sydney, N.S.W., archived from the original on 03 Mar 2023

See all 15 meanings of washout