backwash
verbEtymology From back + wash.
1
To operate a water filter in the reverse direction in order to clean it.
2
To affect with backwash.
3
To clean the oil from wool after combing.
- Derived terms
- backwash ileitis
backwash
nounUK /ˈbæk.wɒʃ/ · US /ˈbæk.wɑʃ/
Etymology From back + wash.
7 senses
- 1A backward flow of water, as from oars, a propeller…
- 2The similar flow of air from an aircraft engine.
- 3The result or consequence of an event; an aftermath.
- 4The saliva, spit or food particles that have flowed back…
- 5The situation where economic growth in one area harms…
- 6An obscure place; a backwater.
- 7Synonym of washback.
- I looked back to a ferry passing the Statue of Liberty now, its backwash a curving line upon the bay.1952, Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man, Penguin Books (2014), page 166:
- They pitched the dragon over the cliff-top, let tide's flow and backwash take the treasure-minder.1999, Seamus Heaney, Beowulf, London: Faber and Faber, page 98:
2
The similar flow of air from an aircraft engine.
3
The result or consequence of an event; an aftermath.
4
The saliva, spit or food particles that have flowed back into a drink after someone has drunk from it.
5
Economics, Sciences The situation where economic growth in one area harms other areas by attracting people and business away from those areas.
6
An obscure place; a backwater.
- "Reasonable expenses, Nickle. You can't spend much in a backwash like this Tapsfield."1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London:
7
Education Synonym of washback.