Definition

Verb (transitive) 1. To clean or rinse something by causing water or another liquid to flow over it. 2. To consume food or medicine by drinking a liquid immediately afterward, often to make swallowing easier or to enhance the taste.

Usage

The verb "wash down" is typically used with a direct object (the thing being cleaned or the food/medicine being consumed). It often requires a prepositional phrase (with water, with wine, etc.) to specify the liquid used.

Examples

1. Cleaning/Rinsing meaning:

   • After painting, he washed down the brushes with warm, soapy water.
   • The deck needs to be washed down with a hose.

2. Consuming food/drink meaning:

   • She washed down the pill with a full glass of water.
   • They washed down their burgers with cold milkshakes.

Advanced Usage

• Metaphorical Use: The consumption meaning is often used metaphorically to describe using a substance (like alcohol) to cope with or suppress a feeling.
  • He tried to wash down his disappointment with a few beers.
  • She washes down her loneliness with a glass of wine every evening.

Variants and Related Words

• Wash (verb): The base verb, meaning to clean with water and often soap.
• Rinse down (verb phrase): Very similar to the cleaning meaning of "wash down," emphasizing the flushing action of the liquid.
  • Rinse down the sink after use.

Synonyms

1. For the cleaning meaning: Rinse off, sluice down, hose down.
2. For the consumption meaning: Chase (informal), take with a drink.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Wash away: To remove or carry away by the action of water.
  • The flood washed away the bridge.
• Wash out: To clean the inside of something; also, to cancel or fail due to rain.
  • Wash out the coffee pot. The game was washed out.

Related Idioms

• Wash one's hands of (something): To refuse to be involved with or responsible for something any longer.
  • After the argument, he washed his hands of the whole project. (Note: "Wash down" itself is a phrasal verb and is not typically categorized as an idiom.)

Verb

1. flow freely
   • The body washed down the river
2. eat food accompanied by lots of liquid; also use metaphorically
   • She washed down her dinner with a bottle of red wine
   • He washes down his worries with a nightly glass of whisky