launder

views updated

laun·der / ˈlôndər; ˈlän-/ • v. [tr.] wash, or wash and iron, (clothes or linens): he wasn't used to laundering his own bed linens [as adj. , with submodifier] (laundered) freshly laundered sheets. ∎  conceal the origins of (money obtained illegally) by transfers involving foreign banks or legitimate businesses. ∎  alter (information) to make it appear more acceptable: we began to notice attempts to launder the data retrospectively.• n. a trough for holding or conveying water, esp. (in mining) one used for washing ore. ∎  a channel for conveying molten metal from a furnace or container to a ladle or mold.DERIVATIVES: laun·der·er n.ORIGIN: Middle English (as a noun denoting a person who washes linen): contraction of lavender, from Old French lavandier, based on Latin lavanda ‘things to be washed,’ from lavare ‘to wash.’

More From encyclopedia.com