Meaning

• A lime and water mixture for painting walls and fences bright white.

• A complete victory or series of victories without suffering any losses; a clean sweep.

• Any liquid composition for whitening something, such as a wash for making the skin fair.

• A campaign to paper over unfavorable elements.

Meaning

• To paint over with a lime and water mixture so as to brighten up a wall or fence.

  "The houses looked very bright when they whitewashed the whole neighborhood."

• To cover over errors or bad actions.

  "In his sermon, the minister didn't try to whitewash over the sins of his church."

• To repay the financial debts of (another person).

• (late, 19th century) To prevent a team from scoring any runs.

• In various games, to defeat (an opponent) so that they fail to score, or to reach a certain point in the game; to skunk.

• To make over (a person or character, a group, an event, etc) so that it is or seems more white, for example by applying makeup to a person, or by covering over the participation of people of color in an event and focusing on only white participation.