washin'

Noun

washing (countable and uncountable, plural washings)

1. (countable) The action of the verb to wash.
   • I then took a piece of dry stone, ground it fine in a mortar, and placed the powder in water, the sand particles sunk rapidly to the bottom, while the clay remained suspended, and by several washings and decantings the sand and clay could be approximately separated ;[…]1855, Proceedings of the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow, volume 3, page 315
2. (Australia, New Zealand, UK, uncountable) Clothing, bedlinen or soft furnishings that have been, are currently being, or are to be washed; laundry.
   • My mother used to do the washing on a Monday.

   Synonyms:

   laundry

3. (countable, in plural, often) The residue after an ore, etc, has been washed.
   • The washings have a higher concentration of metal.
4. The liquid used to wash an ore.
5. A place where a precious metal found in gravel is separated from lighter material by washing.
   • the gold-washings, or silver-washings
6. A thin covering or coat.
   • a washing of silver

See all 8 meanings of washing