washyadj.

1566 T. Drant tr. Horace Medicinable Morall sig. Hvj Not lewde ambition vexethe here, Nor washye southerne wynde.

1660 J. Childrey Britannia Baconica 133 Under this upper Clay lyes a mouldring washy Clay.

1661 S. Pepys Diary 24 Sept. (1970) II. 184 We..find a most sad alteration in the roade by reason of last night's rains, they being now all dirty and washy.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vii. 303 They..on the washie Oose deep Channels wore. View more context for this quotation

a1722 E. Lisle Observ. Husbandry (1757) 216 In washy weather all the hay one can give to cattle will not make them thrive.

1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 40/2 Of places..some are..damp and washy, as are those which lie near Seas or Lakes.

1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue i. 47 But for such washie Tripes as mine then were, I held it no good meate.

1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. III. 491 The physician who neglects the factor of dilatation because the stomach is not as blown out and washy as to force itself on his notice, has an imperfect comprehension of his case.

a1639 H. Wotton Philos. Surv. Educ. in Reliquiæ Wottonianæ (1651) 325 A palish Clearnesse, evenly and smoothly spread, not overthin and washie, but of a pretty solid consistence.

1647 J. Trapp Comm. Evangelists & Acts (Matt. xxv. 4) Christ putteth not upon his a washy colour of profession..but he dyeth them in grain, with true grace and holinesse.

1718 J. Ozell tr. J. Pitton de Tournefort Voy. Levant I. 188 Four rows of Scales of a washy purple.

1785 H. Walpole Let. to H. S. Conway 6 Oct. Sir Joshua's washy Virtues make the Nativity a dark spot from the darkness of the Shepherds.

1811 J. Parkins Young Man's Best Compan. 524 A middling full pencil, not too washy.

1848 E. C. Gaskell Mary Barton I. ii. 18 With a washy, but clean stencilled pattern on the walls.

1884 19th Cent. Feb. 355 The colours are washy and unimpressive.

1886 G. Allen For Maimie's Sake xix Blue eyes like hers..look so mild and gentle and washy.

1639 T. de Gray Compl. Horseman i. iv. 23 The Horse..is generally weake,..tender, and washy of flesh.

a1722 E. Lisle Observ. Husbandry (1757) 300 Your thin necked and bodied cows, that are washy and flue.

1730 W. Burdon Gentleman's Pocket-farrier 61 Some Horses..part with their Food before 'tis well digested, and scour all the Way; which makes 'em so thin and lank, that they are ready to slip through their Girts; they are called washy.

1809 Sporting Mag. 33 138 It was a washy ill constitutioned horse.

1828 N. Webster Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. Washy,..3. Liable to sweat profusely with labor; as, a washy horse.

1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm II. 163 [This] gives to a beast what is called a washy appearance, and is always attended with a liability to looseness in the bowels. This washiness is generally attended with an inordinate breadth of hooks [i.e. hips].

1864 E. Mayhew Illustr. Horse Managem. 483 A leggy, a washy, a soft species of creature, which gentlemen find it cheaper to hire than to buy.

a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1962) X. 46 All the good of man, considered supernaturally, is in grace; but that will not growe in a washy soule, in a liquid, in a watery, and dissolute, and scattered man.

1657 J. Watts Scribe, Pharisee iii. 24 Like as some, who used water instead of wine..were called by the Church ὑδροπαραστάται, or Aquarii, watry and washy Hereticks, as Augustine witnesseth.

1683 J. Dryden Epil. in Prol. to the King & Queen sig. B2^v Alas, our Women are but washy Toys.

1693 in W. Congreve Old Batchelour Prol. If the Slave, After his bragging prove a washy Knave; May he be banish'd to some lonely Den.

1719 in T. D'Urfey Wit & Mirth III. 337 What washy Rogues are here, Are these the Sons of Beef and English Beer?

a1721 M. Prior Daphne & Apollo 10 One mile has put the fellow out of breath;..Washy he is, perhaps not over sound.

1922 J. Joyce Ulysses iii. xviii. [Penelope] 701 I looked a bit washy.