bathe

American  

[beyth] / beɪð /

verb (used with object)

bathed, bathing

1. to immerse (all or part of the body) in water or some other liquid, for cleansing, refreshment, etc.

2. to wet; wash.

3. to moisten or suffuse with any liquid.

4. to apply water or other liquid to, with a sponge, cloth, etc..

   to bathe a wound.

5. to wash over or against, as by the action of the sea, a river, etc..

   incoming tides bathing the coral reef.

6. to cover or surround.

   a shaft of sunlight bathing the room; a morning fog bathing the city.

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verb (used without object)

bathed, bathing

1. to take a bath or sunbath.

2. to swim for pleasure.

3. to be covered or surrounded as if with water.

noun

1. British.

   1. the act of bathing, especially in the sea, a lake, or a river.

   2. a swimming bath.

bathe British  

/ beɪð /

verb

1. (intr) to swim or paddle in a body of open water or a river, esp for pleasure

2. (tr) to apply liquid to (skin, a wound, etc) in order to cleanse or soothe

3. to immerse or be immersed in a liquid

   to bathe machine parts in oil

4. to wash in a bath

5. (tr; often passive) to suffuse

   her face was bathed with radiance

6. (tr) (of water, the sea, etc) to lap; wash

   waves bathed the shore

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noun

1. a swim or paddle in a body of open water or a river

Other Word Forms

• bather noun
• rebathe verb

Etymology

Origin of bathe

before 1000; Middle English bath ( i ) en, Old English bathian, equivalent to bæth bath ¹ + -ian infinitive suffix

Example Sentences

Nate parks well away from the lights that bathe the street from overhead.

From Literature

The setting sun bathed the forest in a ruddy glow.

From Literature

“I’m going to put on my bathing suit right now!” she chirps from her bedroom, sounding happier than most about the prospect of changing into swimwear on a raw and cloudy afternoon.

From The Wall Street Journal

There’s a slight tang from the yogurt bathed in warm spices.

From Salon

In the 1830s, however, the city, then the capital of East Prussia, was “still bathed in the amber glow of the late Enlightenment,” as Christopher Clark tells us in “A Scandal in Königsberg.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• clean
• dip
• douse
• immerse
• rinse
• scour
• scrub
• soak
• steep
• submerge
• wet