a defeat in which the losing person or team fails to score
wash consisting of lime and size in water; used for whitening walls and other surfaces
a specious or deceptive clearing that attempts to gloss over failings and defects
A lime and water mixture for painting walls and fences bright white.
cover up a misdemeanor, fault, or error
"Let's not whitewash the crimes of Stalin"
"She tried to gloss over her mistakes"
exonerate by means of a perfunctory investigation or through biased presentation of data
To paint over with a lime and water mixture so as to brighten up a wall or fence.
The word whitewash comes from combining "white" and "wash," originally referring to a medicinal preparation for treating skin diseases. It later evolved into a verb meaning to clean or cover something with this white mixture.