wash down

verb

washed down; washing down; washes down

transitive verb

1

: to move or carry downward by action of a liquid

especially : to facilitate the passage of (food) down the gullet with accompanying swallows of liquid

pizza washed down with beer

2

: to wash the whole length or extent of

washed down and scrubbed the front porch

Examples of wash down in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

On the South Platte River, the gold flakes wash down from deposits high in the Rocky Mountains, carried down each spring by the rush of melting snow. —Trevor Hughes, USA Today, 27 Feb. 2026

Gifford said the process essentially duplicates how wooden ships were preserved generations ago, when ships were regularly washed down with salt water. —ABC News, 24 Feb. 2026

Chips and a cup of Tex-Mex style queso as a snack, and a cardamon-spiked mandarin agua fresca to wash down everything. —Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 19 Feb. 2026

If the salt seems to all wash down into the hole, repeat the process one or two more times, adding more salt, then more water. —Steven John, Architectural Digest, 13 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1600, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for wash down

• adown
• blowdown
• breakdown
• countdown
• crackdown
• crosstown
• downtown
• drawdown
• dropdown
• facedown
• godown
• hometown