wash
used as a transitive verb
If you wash something, you clean it with water and usually with soap or detergent.
He got a job washing dishes in a pizza parlour.
She washes and irons their clothes.
You can wash a part of your body.
First wash your hands.
She combed her hair and washed her face.
used without an object
If someone washes, they wash parts of their body, especially their hands and face. This is a formal or literary use. In conversation and in less formal writing, you usually say that someone has a wash.
She rose early and washed.
He went upstairs to have a wash.
‘wash up’
In American English, if someone washes up, they wash parts of their body, especially their hands and face.
I'll just go wash up before dinner.
In British English, if someone washes up, they wash the pans, plates, cups, and cutlery which have been used in cooking and eating a meal.
I cooked, so you can wash up.