a machine for washing dishes
"The dishwasher finished its cycle just as we sat down to eat dinner."
someone who washes dishes
"The dishwasher worked late into the night to clear all the tables after the busy dinner service."
A machine for washing dishes.
"After finishing dinner, she loaded the dirty plates and silverware into the dishwasher to clean them automatically."
In plain English: A dishwasher is an electric machine that washes and dries dirty dishes for you automatically.
"She loaded all the dirty plates into the dishwasher before dinner was ready."
The word dishwasher comes from Middle English dysche wescheare, which was formed by combining the words for "dish" and "washer." It entered modern usage as a straightforward compound describing someone or something that washes dishes.