washer (n.1)

1520s, "person who washes," agent noun from wash (v.). From 1808 as "machine that washes." Washer-woman is from 1630s; earlier wash-woman (1580s).

washer (n.2)

"flat ring for sealing joints or holding nuts," mid-14c., generally considered an agent noun of wash (v.), but the sense connection is difficult, and the noun may derive instead from the ancestor of French vis "screw, vise" (see vise).

Entries linking to washer

wash (v.)

Old English wascan "to wash, cleanse, bathe," transitive sense in late Old English, from Proto-Germanic *watskan "to wash" (source also of Old Norse vaska, Middle Dutch wasscen, Dutch wassen, German waschen), from PIE root *wed- (1) "water; wet." Related: Washed; washing.

Used mainly of clothes in Old English (the principal verb for washing the body, dishes, etc. being þwean). Old French gaschier "to stain, soil; soak, wash" (Modern French gâcher) is from Frankish *waskan, from the same Germanic source. Italian guazzare also is a Germanic loan-word. To wash (one's) hands of something is 1550s, from Pilate in Matthew xxvii.24. To wash up "clean utensils after a meal" is from 1751. Washed up "no longer effective" is 1923, theater slang, from notion of washing up at the end of a job.

vise (n.)

early 14c., "a winch, crane," from Anglo-French vice, Old French vis, viz "screw," from Latin vītis "vine, tendril of a vine," literally "that which winds," from root of viere "to bind, twist" (from PIE root *wei- "to turn, twist, bend"). Also in Middle English, "device like a screw or winch for bending a crossbow or catapult; spiral staircase; the screw of a press; twisted tie for fastening a hood under the chin." The modern meaning "clamping tool with two jaws closed by a screw" is first recorded c. 1500.

dish-washer (n.)

also dishwasher, mid-15c., "person who washes dishes;" 1867, "apparatus that washes dishes;" from dish (n.) + washer (n.1).

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Definitions of washer

washer (n.)

someone who washes things for a living;

washer (n.)

seal consisting of a flat disk placed to prevent leakage;

washer (n.)

a home appliance for washing clothes and linens automatically;

Synonyms: automatic washer / washing machine

From wordnet.princeton.edu

Dictionary entries near washer

washable

wash-basket

washboard

wash-cloth

washdown

washer

washing

Washington

wash-out

washroom

wash-stand