Both Uses of
whitewash
in
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
- The priest whitewashes them, the archdeacon scrapes them down; then the populace arrives and demolishes them.†
Chpt Pref. *whitewashes = covers up (to hide a wrong)
- Afterwards, the wall was whitewashed or scraped down, I know not which, and the inscription disappeared.†
Chpt Pref.
Definitions:
-
(1)
(whitewash as in: whitewash the fence) a liquid used to paint something in a see-through white color; or the act of painting something with such a liquid
-
(2)
(whitewash as in: investigative whitewash) cover up, hide, or minimize (a wrong or error)
-
(3)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Whitewash, especially in the past, can also refer to painting something white.