launder

[lawn-der, lahn-] /ˈlɔn dər, ˈlɑn-/
verb (used with object)
1.
to wash (clothes, linens, etc.).
2.
to wash and iron (clothes).
3.
Informal.
  1. to disguise the source of (illegal or secret funds or profits), usually by transmittal through a foreign bank or a complex network of intermediaries.
  2. to disguise the true nature of (a transaction, operation, or the like) by routing money or goods through one or more intermediaries.
4.
to remove embarrassing or unpleasant characteristics or elements from in order to make more acceptable:
He'll have to launder his image if he wants to run for office.
verb (used without object)
5.
to wash laundry.
6.
to undergo washing and ironing:
The shirt didn't launder well.
noun
7.
(in ore dressing) a passage carrying products of intermediate grade and residue in water suspension.
8.
Metallurgy. a channel for conveying molten steel to a ladle.
Origin
1300-50; 1970-75 for def 3; Middle English: launderer, syncopated variant of lavandere, lavendere washer of linen < Middle French lavandier(e) < Medieval Latin lavandārius (masculine), lavandāria (feminine), equivalent to Latin lavand- (gerund stem of lavāre to wash) + -ārius, -āria -ary; see -er2)
Related forms
launderable, adjective
launderability, noun
launderer, noun
relaunder, verb (used with object)
unlaundered, adjective
well-laundered, adjective
Examples from the web for launder
  • Wash your hands thoroughly and launder clothes separately after completing the clean-up.
  • It is better to do a floor to ceiling cleaning and launder everything.
  • The also conspire to channel, siphon and launder millions of dollars worth of grant money from the government.
  • The also conspire to channel, syphon and launder millions of dollars worth of grant money from the government.
  • O ne of the ways for big narcos to launder drug money was to acquire land.
  • Two other election-related charges, of money-laundering and conspiracy to launder money, were allowed to stand.
  • The fact is, criminals launder money in countries all around the world.
  • The nimblest insiders from the old regime get their money out quickly, or launder their reputations.
  • It is also, says one, by far the best place if you want to launder a really large amount of money.
  • Plenty of shipowners, from tax-dodging dentists to drug-smuggling syndicates, use ships to launder money.
British Dictionary definitions for launder

launder

/ˈlɔːndə/
verb
1.
to wash, sometimes starch, and often also iron (clothes, linen, etc)
2.
(intransitive) to be capable of being laundered without shrinking, fading, etc
3.
(transitive) to process (something acquired illegally) to make it appear respectable, esp to process illegally acquired funds through a legitimate business or to send them to a foreign bank for subsequent transfer to a home bank
noun
4.
a water trough, esp one used for washing ore in mining
Derived Forms
launderer, noun
Word Origin
C14 (n, meaning: a person who washes linen): changed from lavender washerwoman, from Old French lavandiere, ultimately from Latin lavāre to wash
Word Origin and History for launder
v.

1660s, "to wash linen," from noun launder "one who washes" (especially linen), mid-15c., a contraction of lavender, from Old French lavandier "washer, launderer," from Medieval Latin lavandaria "a washer," ultimately from Latin lavare "to wash" (see lave). Criminal banking sense first recorded 1961, from notion of making dirty money seem clean; brought to widespread use during U.S. Watergate scandal, 1973. Related: Laundered; laundering.

Slang definitions & phrases for launder

launder

verb

To transfer or convert funds so that illegal or dubious receipts are made to appear legitimate: The account money that had been ''laundered'' by being siphoned from this country into Mexico and returned under an alias (1961+)