backwash

noun

back·​wash ˈbak-ˌwȯsh 

-ˌwäsh

1

: a backward flow or movement (as of water or air) produced especially by a propelling force

also : the fluid that is moving backward

2

: consequence, aftermath

Synonyms

• aftereffect
• aftermath
• child
• conclusion
• consequence
• corollary
• development
• effect
• fate
• fruit
• issue
• outcome
• outgrowth
• precipitate
• product
• result
• resultant
• sequel
• sequence
• upshot

Examples of backwash in a Sentence

a general recession was the backwash of the crisis in the housing market

Recent Examples on the Web

Long story short, more bleach was applied and my hair started to melt away in straggly clumps at the backwash. —Humeara Mohamed, refinery29.com, 7 June 2024

Below them, harbor seals appeared in the backwash of coves. —Elaine Glusac, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Apr. 2024

The earliest object is an exquisite 1951 painting by the late Lee Mullican, once a UCLA professor, its knife-edge rays of shimmery golden light emerging from a central core to summon the birth of new worlds in the era’s backwash of hydrogen bombs and Holocaust. —Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2023

The Brideshead backwash lingered. —The Economist, 11 June 2020

Word History

First Known Use

1837, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

backwash

noun

back·​wash ˈbak-ˌwȯsh 

-ˌwäsh

: backward movement (as of water or air) produced by a propelling force (as the motion of oars)