launder
/'lɔ:ndə/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Verb:
- To wash and iron (clothes, linens, etc.): The primary meaning refers to the process of cleaning items, typically with water and detergent, and often including ironing to make them smooth.
- To make illegally obtained money appear legal: This specialized meaning refers to the process of concealing the origin of money obtained from criminal activities by channeling it through legitimate businesses or transactions.
Usage and Examples
- Verb (To clean):
- I need to launder these shirts for the meeting tomorrow.
- The hotel launders its bed linens daily.
- Verb (To conceal illegal money):
- The criminal organization used several shell companies to launder its profits.
- Authorities arrested him for attempting to launder money through the casino.
Advanced Usage
- "Money laundering": This is the standard noun phrase for the illegal activity.
- The bank was fined for its role in international money laundering.
- The term can be used metaphorically to describe making something dirty or questionable appear clean or respectable.
- The biography attempted to launder the dictator's brutal reputation.
Variants and Related Words
- Laundry (n): 1. Clothes or linens that need to be or have been washed. 2. A room or business where laundering is done.
- Please put your dirty clothes in the laundry basket.
- Launderer (n): A person or machine that launders.
- Launderette/Laundromat (n): A self-service establishment with coin-operated washing machines and dryers.
Synonyms
- To clean: Wash, cleanse, rinse.
- To legitimize funds: Clean, legitimize, sanitize (in the financial crime context).
Related Phrases
- To launder money: The full phrasal construction for the financial crime.
- The scheme was designed to launder money from drug trafficking.
Verb
- convert illegally obtained funds into legal ones
- cleanse with a cleaning agent, such as soap, and water
- Wash the towels, please!