launder

 
Pronunciation: /ˈlɔːndə/

verb

[with object]
  • 1wash and iron (clothes or linen): he wasn’t used to laundering his own bed linen (as adjective, with submodifier laundered) freshly laundered sheets
  • 2 informal conceal the origins of (money obtained illegally) by transfers involving foreign banks or legitimate businesses: $123,000 had been laundered through Geneva bank accounts
  • alter (information) to make it appear more acceptable: we began to notice attempts to launder the data retrospectively

noun

  • a trough for holding or conveying water, especially (in mining) one used for washing ore.
  • a channel for conveying molten metal from a furnace or container to a ladle or mould.

Derivatives

launderer

noun

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'