Wash vs Ditch - What's the difference?

In transitive terms the difference between wash and ditch

is that wash is to cover with water or any liquid; to wet; to fall on and moisten while ditch is to throw into a ditch.

In intransitive terms the difference between wash and ditch

is that wash is to be wasted or worn away by the action of water, as by a running or overflowing stream, or by the dashing of the sea; said of road, a beach, etc while ditch is to dig ditches.

As verbs the difference between wash and ditch

is that wash is to clean with water while ditch is alternative form of lang=en.

As nouns the difference between wash and ditch

is that wash is the process or an instance of washing or being washed by water or other liquid while ditch is alternative form of lang=en.

As an initialism WASH

is Water, Sanitation and Hygiene.

wash

English

Verb

To clean with water.

To move or erode by the force of water in motion.

Heavy rains wash a road or an embankment.

(mining) To separate valuable material (such as gold) from worthless material by the action of flowing water.

To clean oneself with water.

To cover with water or any liquid; to wet; to fall on and moisten.

Waves wash the shore.

* Milton

fresh-blown roses washed with dew

* Longfellow

[the landscape] washed with a cold, grey mist

To be eroded or carried away by the action of water.

(figuratively) To be cogent, convincing; to withstand critique.

* 2012 , (The Economist), Oct 13th 2012 issue, The Jordan and its king: As beleaguered as ever

The king is running out of ideas as well as cash. His favourite shock-absorbing tactic—to blame his governments and sack his prime ministers—hardly washes .

To bear without injury the operation of being washed.

To be wasted or worn away by the action of water, as by a running or overflowing stream, or by the dashing of the sea; said of road, a beach, etc.

To cover with a thin or watery coat of colour; to tint lightly and thinly.

To overlay with a thin coat of metal.

steel washed with silver

Usage notes

In older works and possibly still in some dialects, wesh'' and ''woosh'' may be found as past tense forms. ''Washen may be found as a past participle.

Derived terms

* dishwasher * jetwash * wash away * wash down * washed up / all washed up * washer * wash off * wash one's hands of * wash out * wash over * wash up

Noun

(washes)

The process or an instance of washing or being washed by water or other liquid.

I'm going to have a quick wash before coming to bed.

My jacket needs a wash .

A liquid used for washing.

The quantity of clothes washed at a time.

There's a lot in that wash : maybe you should split it into two piles.

(arts) A smooth and translucent .

The sound of breaking of the seas, e.g., on the shore.

I could hear the wash of the wave.

The wake of a moving ship.

The ship left a big wash

Sail away from the wash to avoid rocking the boat.

The turbulence left in the air by a moving airplane.

A lotion or other liquid with medicinal or hygienic properties.

mouth wash

hand wash

Ground washed away to the sea or a river.

* Mortimer

The wash of pastures, fields, commons, and roads, where rain water hath a long time settled.

A piece of ground washed by the action of water, or sometimes covered and sometimes left dry; the shallowest part of a river, or arm of the sea; also, a bog; a marsh.

* Shakespeare

These Lincoln washes have devoured them.

A shallow body of water.

In arid and semi-arid regions, the normally dry bed of an intermittent or ephemeral stream; an arroyo or wadi.

* 1997 , Stanley Desmond Smith, et al. Physiological Ecology of North American Desert Plants, Nature

In some desert-wash systems (which have been termed “xero-riparian”)

* 1999 , Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert

... though the wash may carry surface water for only a few hours a year.

* 2005 , Le Hayes, Pilgrims in the Desert: The Early History of the East Mojave Desert

Rock Spring Wash' continues a short distance then joins Watson '''Wash'''. Water from Rock Spring comes out of the boulder strewn ' wash and disappears into the sand

An situation in which losses and gains or advantages and disadvantages are equivalent; a situation in which there is no net change.

* 2003 , David Brenner, I Think There's a Terrorist in My Soup , page 100:

I knew that for every vote I cast for, say, the Republicans, some kid at a polling place nearby was casting his votes for the Democrats, so it was probably a wash or close to it.

Waste liquid, the refuse of food, the collection from washed dishes, etc., from a kitchen, often used as food for pigs; pigwash.

(Shakespeare)

In distilling, the fermented wort before the spirit is extracted.

A mixture of dunder, molasses, water, and scummings, used in the West Indies for distillation.

A thin coat of metal laid on anything for beauty or preservation.

(nautical) The blade of an oar.

The backward current or disturbed water caused by the action of oars, or of a steamer's screw or paddles, etc.

Ten strikes, or bushels, of oysters.

Derived terms

* backwash * come out in the wash * car wash * mouthwash * wash and brushup * wash sale * washout * whitewash

Anagrams

* *

ditch

English

Etymology 1

From earlier deche, from (etyl) dechen, from (etyl) .

Verb

(es)

Noun

(en-noun)

Etymology 2

From (etyl) dich, from (etyl) .

Noun

(es)

A trench; a long, shallow indentation, as for irrigation or drainage.

Digging ditches has long been considered one of the most demanding forms of manual labor.

Derived terms

* ditchdigger * ditch weed * ditcher * ox is in the ditch

Verb

To discard or abandon.

Once the sun came out we ditched our rain-gear and started a campfire.

To deliberately crash-land an airplane on the sea.

When the second engine failed, the pilot was forced to ditch ; their last location was just south of the Azores.

To deliberately not attend classes; to play hookey.

The truant officer caught Louise ditching with her friends, and her parents were forced to pay a fine.

To dig ditches.

Enclosure led to fuller winter employment in hedging and ditching .

To dig ditches around.

The soldiers ditched the tent to prevent flooding.

To throw into a ditch.

The engine was ditched and turned on its side.

Synonyms

* abandon * discard * dump * jettison * lose * shed * See also