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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Black wash

Black wash \Black" wash`\ (bl[a^]k"w[o^]sh) or Blackwash \Black"wash\, n.

  1. (Med.) A lotion made by mixing calomel and lime water.

  2. A wash that blackens, as opposed to whitewash; hence, figuratively, calumny.

    To remove as far as he can the modern layers of black wash, and let the man himself, fair or foul, be seen.
    --C. Kingsley.

Usage examples of "black wash".

His hair fell in a black wash down Ins back, held from his face by a crown of feathers and gold.

His hair fell in a black wash down his back, held from his face by a crown of feathers and gold.

The natural soft yellow of the limestone, streaked with the black wash of leached-out impurities, was darkening to deep purple, and a somber gloom cloaked the water flowing at the foot of the stone ramparts.

Rain began to fall, sweeping across the decking in a cold, black wash, and quickly they were soaked through.

They passed the Grand Stand in the following order: Syphilis first, Chancre second, Bubo third, and Suppuration a bad fourth, closely followed by Unction, Black Wash, Lint, and Copaiba.