| 释义 |
whitewasher|ˈhwaɪtˌwɒʃə(r)|
[f. as prec. + -er1.]
One who or that which whitewashes.
1. One who lays on a coat of whitewash.
In quot. 1752 contemptuously for a clumsy artist.
1733S. Carolina Gaz. 24 Feb., He's a Bricklayer, Plaisterer and White-washer. 1752Foote Taste 1, Thou Dauber, thou execrable White⁓washer. 1866Mrs. Gaskell Wives & Dau. xxv, The ladders of whitewashers and painters were sadly in the way of the ladies.
2. fig. One who (or something that) frees from blame, conceals faults, or imparts a fair appearance.
1820M. Wilmot Let. 27 Sept. (1935) 84 On recollection his cause is too good to be successful in such clever hands as her [sc. Queen Caroline's] whitewashers. 1862M. Napier Visct. Dundee II. 228 note, A devoted and skilful white-washer of Scotch fanatics. 1889M. Caird Wing of Azrael xxxi, Death is..the great whitewasher.
3. slang or colloq. A final glass of white wine taken after dinner.
1881J. Grant Cameronians iii, The General..insisted..on one more glass of dry sherry, ‘just as a white-washer’. |