Word: washout Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Deverbal from wash out. Pronunciation: /ˈwɒʃaʊt/, /ˈwɔʃˌaʊt/, /ˈwɑʃ-/ 1. An act of washing or cleaning the inside of something. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: No. 21C9 was in need of a boiler washout and though she was carefully and assiduously fired and use made of the fire-irons during the run, it was not possible to maintain steam, which often fell as low as 210 lb. Example: In recent months, as we have already reported, boiler washouts of Stratford's "Britannia" Pacifics have been carried out at Norwich, owing to the better staff situation at the latter shed, […] 2. An appliance designed to wash out the inside of something. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The cistern was fitted with washouts and air-valves. 3. The erosion of a relatively soft surface by a sudden gush of water; also, a channel produced by this action. Labels: countable, uncountable 4. The erosion of a relatively soft surface by a sudden gush of water; also, a channel produced by this action. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: In a message to NR [National Rail] staff on August 14, Haines said: "It's not just Scotland impacted by extreme wet weather. This week we have seen, and will continue to see, heavy rain fall. This has caused washouts and landslips across the length and breadth of Great Britain." 5. A sporting fixture or other event that cannot be completed because of rain. Labels: countable, slang, uncountable Example: The Austin picnic was a washout, rained all day. 6. An overwhelming victory; a landslide. Labels: countable, slang, uncountable Example: Illawarra turns blue in Liberal washout [title] Example: [Joe] Biden failed to flip crucial toss-up states such as Florida and Ohio and pull off the blue washout his supporters had been touting. 7. A total failure; a disappointment. Labels: countable, slang, uncountable Example: "I thought you was goin' into the business yourself." / "That's a wash-out," snarled Silas. "Don't you talk of it. It's finished." Example: [Chapter XX] "And what you do, Bertie, is get out that car of yours and scour the countryside for Glossop. It may be possible to head him off. Come on, come on, let's have some service. What are you waiting for?” I hadn't exactly been waiting. I'd only been thinking that the enterprise had more than a touch of looking for a needle in a haystack about it. You can't find loony-doctors on their afternoon off just by driving around Worcestershire in a car; you need bloodhounds and handkerchiefs for them to sniff at and all that professional stuff. Still, there it was. “Right-ho,” I said. “Anything to oblige.” [Chapter XXI] And, of course, as I had anticipated from the start, the thing was a wash-out. I stuck it out for about an hour and then, apprised by a hollow feeling in the midriff that the dinner hour was approaching, laid a course for home. 8. An unsuccessful person. Labels: countable, slang, uncountable Example: As an actor he was a complete washout, so he went back to accounting. 9. The aerodynamic effect of a small twist in the shape of an aircraft wing. Labels: countable, uncountable 10. A destroyed aeroplane. Labels: UK, countable, uncountable 11. A trainee who drops out of a training programme. Labels: UK, countable, uncountable 12. A period between clinical treatments in which any medication delivered as the first treatment is allowed to be eliminated from a person's body before the second treatment begins. Labels: countable, uncountable 13. The cleaning of matter from a physiological system using a fluid; also, the fluid used for such cleaning; or the matter cleaned out from the system. Labels: also, countable, uncountable Example: a bladder washout 14. The action whereby falling rainwater cleans particles from the air. Labels: countable, uncountable 15. A place in a mine where ore has been washed away by a flow of water. Labels: countable, uncountable