whitewashed; whitewashing; whitewashes
Definition of whitewash
(Entry 1 of 2)
1
: to whiten with whitewash
a freshly whitewashed wall a row of whitewashed cottages "Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?"— Mark Twain
2a
: to gloss over or cover up (something, such as a record of criminal behavior)
refused to whitewash the scandal In the years following the Nuremberg trials, there was an increasingly concerted effort to whitewash the record of the Wehrmacht, the armed forces of the Third Reich.— Rob Zacny
b
: to exonerate (someone) by means of a perfunctory investigation or through biased presentation of data
… seemed to be trying to tell the full story without trying to whitewash the dictator or conceal his atrocities.— Ronald Hingley
3
informal
: to hold (an opponent) scoreless in a game or contest
He stopped 38 shots to shut out the Oilers on Feb. 9; 39 in blanking the Rangers on Nov. 12; and 45 in whitewashing the Avalanche on Oct. 30.— Austin Murphy
4
: to alter (something) in a way that favors, features, or caters to white people: such as
a
: to portray (the past) in a way that increases the prominence, relevance, or impact of white people and minimizes or misrepresents that of nonwhite people
… touches obliquely on Jones' assertion that the mayor and other white city leaders want to "whitewash" the telling of our nation's civil rights struggles.— Jeff Gauger
b
: to alter (an original story) by casting a white performer in a role based on a nonwhite person or fictional character
It was important to Jenny Han, author of the YA books To All the Boys I've Loved Before, that the film adaption would keep one key detail: that the lead character, Lara Jean, was Asian-American. In a new essay …, Han revealed that nearly every production company interested in adapting her best-selling book into a movie asked to whitewash it.— Hunter Harris The Hollywood screenwriter Max Landis has denied defending the casting of Scarlett Johansson in a "whitewashed" remake of the classic Japanese anime Ghost in the Shell.— Ben Child
whitewash
nounDefinition of whitewash (Entry 2 of 2)
1
: a liquid composition for whitening a surface: such as
a
: a preparation for whitening the skin
b
: a composition (as of lime and water or whiting, size, and water) for whitening structural surfaces
2
: an act or instance of glossing over or of exonerating
3
: a defeat in a contest in which the loser fails to score
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Time Traveler for whitewash
The first known use of whitewash was in 1591
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