† buck-washingn.
Obsolete.
The process of washing coarse and very dirty linen, by boiling it in an alkaline lye (buck n.3), and afterwards beating and rinsing it in clear water; see bucking-washing n. at bucking n.1 Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing clothes and textile articles > [noun] > washing by steeping or boiling
bucking1483
buck-washing1602
bucking-washing1808
1602 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor iii. iii. 149 You had best meddle with buck-washing.
1845 T. Carlyle in O. Cromwell Lett. & Speeches I. 19 Such a job of buck-washing.
Derivatives
buck-wash n.
ΚΠ
1879 G. F. Jackson Shropshire Word-bk. Buch-wesh or weshin', a large wash of heavy, coarse linen..In the buck-wesh no soap was used, but the linen was boiled in the buck-lee. It was then carried to a neighbouring stream or spring, and laid upon a smooth stone or a block..there the linen was beaten with a ‘bat~staff’, after which it was well ‘swilled’ in the pure water.
buck-washer n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing clothes and textile articles > [noun] > one who washes clothes > a woman
washesterc900
laundress1555
washwoman1590
washmaidc1610
buck-washer1611
laundrya1616
laundry-maid1632
washerwoman1632
washing-woman1782
washer-wife1800
lavandera1841
laundry-woman1863
washer-maiden1876
washer-girl1907
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Buandiere, a laundresse, or buck-washer.
1829 T. Carlyle in Foreign Rev. Jan. 444 His office of 'buckwasher', that is' of verse-corrector to his Majesty.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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n.1602