wash away

phrasal verb

washed away; washing away; washes away

: to carry (something) away by the movement of water

The bridge was washed away by flooding last year.

: to get rid of (something, such as unhappy or unpleasant thoughts) completely

Take a vacation to wash away your troubles.

Examples of wash away in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Some coastal Alaska Native villages are being washed away by rising waters, new plants and insects are moving in as large wildfires scorch the landscape, and experts fear large portions of the permanently frozen ground known as permafrost are melting, releasing heat-trapping methane. —

Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY, 15 Sep. 2024 This basically turned their skin transparent, an effect that easily reversed once the dye was washed away. —

Michael Franco, New Atlas, 5 Sep. 2024 Heavy-duty and high spin speed cycles can also help dislodge fur from fabric, and using the extra rinse cycle ensures that fur is completely washed away. —

Jolie Kerr, Better Homes & Gardens, 4 Sep. 2024 Tuesday’s rain washed away many bridges, cutting off smaller towns and villages from the state highway network and complicating rescue operations, local media reported. —

Anant Gupta, Washington Post, 30 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for wash away

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wash away.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.