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

Fresh seafood is abundant thanks to the proximity to the sea, while traditional Turkish meze (washed down with raki, of course), and local specialties like şiş köfte and tantuni await. —Kaitlyn McInnis, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025

Nostalgic snack nuts taste best washed down with an ice cold beer. —Jenna Sims, Southern Living, 24 Aug. 2025

The fabrics, made with a cotton indigo warp and polyester weft, wash down like conventional denim. —Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 21 Aug. 2025

The result was a cascade of metal pollution that washed down the slopes with the rain, winding through creeks and seeping into lakes. —Aubrey Hillman, The Conversation, 8 Aug. 2025

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