wash, verb transitive

Origin:
EnglishShow more Special senses of general English.
In the phrases to wash (one’s) spear, to wash (one’s) assegai [translation of isiZulu geza or hlamba, as found in the phrases geza imikhonto, hlamba imikhonto, literally ‘wash spears’, carry out a ceremonial cleansing (as after a period of mourning) by hunting or by slaughtering cattle; so, blood (oneself) in battle, cleanse oneself after killing in battle]: to mark the end of a period of mourning by slaughtering cattle or going on a hunt; (of a soldier) to blood oneself in battle; to perform a cleansing ceremony after killing in battle; less frequently to wash the spears (of soldiers), to send (soldiers, etc.) to battle, especially for the first time, or on a large-scale hunt, often as part of a ceremony (e.g. to mark the end of a period of national mourning).
1878 H.A. Roche On Trek in Tvl 119This chief..craves nothing more eagerly than to wash the spears of the young men of his nation.
1897 F.R. Statham S. Afr. as It Is 20Cetwayo..was..anxious for peace...The very request which has been so often quoted as testifying to his ferocious nature is really evidence the other way. That request was for permission for his regiment to ‘wash their spears’ in the blood of their old hereditary enemies the Swazies.
1912 Ayliff & Whiteside Hist. of Abambo 64It is probable that Kreli did not himself desire war, but his young warriors were eager to wash their spears, and spurned all restraint.
1933 W. Macdonald Romance of Golden Rand 173Many..Swazi warriors had washed their spears..against the Bapedi tribe in the first Sekukuni campaign.
1934 B.I. Buchanan Pioneer Days 119He had forbidden his young men to marry until they had ‘washed their assegais in blood’.
1956 F.C. Metrowich Valiant but Once 186We wage war only against men...We do not wash our assegais in the blood of..women..or..children.
1961 T.V. Bulpin White Whirlwind 129In normal Zulu custom, the ending of royal mourning must be marked by some raid, or at least a mighty hunt so that the warriors can purge themselves of the evil effects of a monarch’s death by washing their spears in blood.
1971 Nat. Geog. Mag. 6 Dec. 751The Zulu regiments suddenly appeared — 20,000 strong — and swooped in to ‘wash their spears’ in the blood of the invaders, slaughtering some 1,300 of them.
1979 C. Endfield Zulu Dawn 46I have earned my isi-Coco slaying enemies of Cetshwayo — ask whose stabbing spear was washed in the blood of the Swazi King.
In the phrases to wash (one’s) spear, to wash (one’s) assegai [translation of isiZulu geza or hlamba, as found in the phrases geza imikhonto, hlamba imikhonto, literally ‘wash spears’, carry out a ceremonial cleansing (as after a period of mourning) by hunting or by slaughtering cattle; so, blood (oneself) in battle, cleanse oneself after killing in battle]: to mark the end of a period of mourning by slaughtering cattle or going on a hunt; (of a soldier) to blood oneself in battle; to perform a cleansing ceremony after killing in battle; less frequently to wash the spears (of soldiers), to send (soldiers, etc.) to battle, especially for the first time, or on a large-scale hunt, often as part of a ceremony (e.g. to mark the end of a period of national mourning).
Derivatives:
Hence washing  verbal noun, in the phrases the washing of the spear, the washing of the spears, the washing of spears, the blooding of a soldier or regiment; bloodshed, especially in warfare; a cleansing ceremony which follows such bloodshed.
1949 O. Walker Proud Zulu (1951) 14Maidens demanded that the men obtain the king’s favour by valour and the right to marry them. The ‘washing of spears’ was ancient custom...The Swazi ‘dogs’ in the north were the favoured target.
1978 A. Elliott Sons of Zulu 46The ‘Wiping of the Axe’ or the ‘Washing of the Spear’ ceremony..is the cleansing ceremony for a returning warrior who has killed someone in battle.
1983 City Press 6 Nov. 6The slaughter of students at Ongoye...We wonder what the majority of Inkatha members feel about this ‘washing of the spears’ by..brainwashed militants.
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18781983

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washing

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English
War of the Axe, noun phrasen. phr.washing, nounn.
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