Word.ws English Dictionary

washing sherry

washing sherry noun: cheap, inferior sherry.

Noun

washing sherry (uncountable)

  1. (derogatory, humorous) Cheap, inferior sherry.
    • A couple of literary luncheons went sugar-tipsy to their heads, like the washing sherry served before those luncheons[…]1945, Dylan Thomas, Quite Early One Morning
    • I could spend half my evenings, if I wanted, / Holding a glass of washing sherry, canted / Over to catch the drivel of some bitch / Who's read nothing but Which[…]1971, Philip Larkin, Vers de Société

Origin of washing sherry

Alteration of the more neutral cooking sherry

Questions about washing sherry

What does washing sherry mean?
Washing sherry means cheap, inferior sherry.
What part of speech is washing sherry?
Washing sherry is a noun.

Words near washing sherry in the dictionary

  1. washing out
  2. washing out one's mouth
  3. washing over
  4. washing powder
  5. washing powders
  6. washing sherry
  7. washing soda
  8. washing stuff
  9. washing tab
  10. washing tabs
  11. washing up

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: washing sherry (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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