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Consult Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, The Chambers Thesaurus (1996) or Chambers Biographical Dictionary (1997 edition with amendments). Enter your search and choose your title from the drop-down menu.
bath noun (baths) 1 a large open container for water, in which to wash the whole body while sitting in it. 2 an act of washing the body in a bath. 3 the water filling a bath • run a bath. 4 (the baths) a public swimming pool. 5 in compounds a liquid with or in which something is washed, heated or steeped, etc, as a medicinal or cleansing treatment, etc or as part of a technical process such as developing photographs • acid bath • baby bath. 6 especially in compounds a container in which something is washed, heated, or steeped, etc, of appropriate size and shape for the specific purpose • an eye bath. verb (bathed, bathing) 1 to wash someone or something in a bath • Have you bathed the children? 2 intrans (also have a bath, or take a bath) to wash oneself in a bath • She baths every evening. See also bathe.
ETYMOLOGY: Anglo-Saxon bæth.
bath See Usage Note at bathe. |
bathe verb (bathed, bathing) 1 intrans to swim in the sea, etc for pleasure. 2 intrans, chiefly N Amer to wash oneself in a bath; to take a bath. 3 to wash or treat (part of the body, etc) with water, or with a liquid, etc to clean it or to lessen pain • Bathe the wound every hour. 4 (often bathe something or someone in or with something) to cover and surround it or them (eg in light); to suffuse • Sunlight bathed the room. noun (bathes) an act of swimming in the sea, etc; a swim or dip.
ETYMOLOGY: Anglo-Saxon bathian to wash.
bathe, bath In British English, bathe refers to swimming, or to therapeutic washing, eg of wounds or sore feet; bath is the verb for washing yourself or someone in a bath. In the past tense, the same form bathed is used (with different pronunciations when spoken), which contributes to the uncertainty. In American English, bathe has both meanings. |
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Consult Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, The Chambers Thesaurus (1996) or Chambers Biographical Dictionary (1997 edition with amendments). Enter your search and choose your title from the drop-down menu.
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