Dictionary entry

Black wash

Webster's Dictionary 1913

{ Black″ wash′ (�) orBlack″wash }, n. 1. (Med.) A lotion made by mixing calomel and lime water.

2. A wash that blackens, as opposed to whitewash; hence, figuratively, calumny.

To remove as far as he can the modern layers of black wash, and let the man himself, fair or foul, be seen.

C. Kingsley.