ablutev.
/əˈbluːt/, U.S. /əˈblut/ Chiefly colloquial.
a. transitive. To wash (oneself, or a part of the body). Also in figurative context.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing oneself or body > wash one's body or part of it [verb (transitive)]
washc1160
ablute1703
1703 J. Moyle Experienced Chirurgion iii. ix. 183 Let the Wound be well abluted with hot Tinctures de Myrrha.
1750 M. Browne Sunday Thoughts: Pt. II. 52 In deep repentance plung'd, Cleans'd and abluted come.
1826 Monthly Mag. Aug. 170 It is a believing Persian's duty to ablute himself morning and evening.
1892 Judy 9 Mar. 110/2 She went off to..wash her face... I'd previously abluted mine.
1937 Middletown (N.Y.) Times Herald 9 Apr. 4/4 After the charter curfew the good citizens have a legal right to ablute themselves publicly without benefit of trunks or halter—or either.
2007 Independent on Sunday (Nexis) 10 June Also featured in the catalogue are soap applicators for abluting those hard-to-get-to little places.
b. intransitive. To wash oneself; to bathe.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing oneself or body > wash oneself [verb (intransitive)]
washc1175
ablute1791
douche1843
souse1895
to wash up1934
1791 C. Hamilton tr. Hedàya I. vi. xii. 554 To wash simply signifies to ablute with a view to purification.
1840 J. Orange Hist. & Antiq. Nottingham I. ii. v. 19 The sick and dying were probably considered certain of future happiness, who could ablute in its water and expire on its banks!
1850 Waukesha (Wisconsin) Democrat 9 July (electronic text) Wash, scrub, bathe, dive, swim, paddle, wade, wallow, dip, sprinkle, immerse, ablute... So shall you enjoy health of body, [etc.].
1924 Blackwood's Mag. Nov. 691/1 Postal work would have been sadly disorganised if Father Moti had kept the postal staff abluting.
1959 C. MacInnes Absolute Beginners 183 I put on some music and abluted, then made two Nescafés.
2002 Derbyshire Life & Countryside Nov. 128/2 I abluted in a staff loo.., observed the female contingent and then rejoined the march in a bloated Pall Mall.
Derivatives
aˈbluting n.
ΚΠ
?1773 Short & Candid Addr. to Baptists 16 That signifies the cleansing and abluting operation of the blessed Comforter.
1860 Southern Lit. Messenger 30 59/2 He found it would be necessary to perform the operations of shaving and abluting in a freezing and badly-smelling atmosphere.
1993 Sun Herald (Sydney) (Nexis) 14 Mar. (Suppl.) 56 We are a private lot, not inclined to communal abluting.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
v.1703