Basic Details
Word: Whitewash
Part of Speech: Noun, verb
Meaning: A mixture of lime and water brushed onto walls to make them white. It also means an attempt to hide someone's mistakes or wrongdoing, and in sport a series in which one side wins every match.
Synonyms: cover-up, conceal, gloss over
Antonyms: expose, reveal
How to Spell Whitewash
Syllables: white - wash
Tricky part: It is white and wash joined with nothing dropped, so the e of white stays before the w. Students also write wight, borrowing the igh of night.
Watch out for: whitwash, wightwash, whitewosh
Memory tip: Picture a painter who has to wash a wall white: white + wash, written as one word with all nine letters kept.
Usage Examples
Example 1: Before Diwali, the painters gave the whole courtyard a fresh coat of whitewash.
Example 2: India's 3-0 whitewash of the visiting team made the front page.
Example 3: The tree trunks along the cantonment road are whitewashed every year.
Fun Fact
In Mark Twain's novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Tom is told to whitewash a fence and tricks his friends into doing it for him, even getting them to hand over their treasures for a turn.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Makeup
Choose the correctly spelt compound word:
a) billbord
b) ligthouse
c) housholder
d) whitewash
Show answer
d) whitewash. Billboard ends in board, householder needs the e of house and lighthouse puts gh before t.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word whitewash as used in the sentence:
Opposition leaders said the report was nothing but a whitewash meant to protect the minister.
a) cover-up
b) disclosure
c) decoration
d) praise
Show answer
a) cover-up. This whitewash has nothing to do with paint; it means hiding the truth to shield someone.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
wheitewash
a) h
b) i
c) e
d) w
Show answer
c) e. White is spelt w-h-i with nothing between the h and the i, so the e squeezed in there must go.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Traditional whitewash is made mainly from ____.
a) lime and water
b) clay and sand
c) oil and wax
d) tar and gravel
Show answer
a) lime and water
2. If a team suffers a whitewash in a series, it ____.
a) loses every match
b) wins every match
c) draws every match
d) plays no matches
Show answer
a) loses every match
