washout

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Erosion of a relatively soft surface, such as a roadbed, by a sudden gush of water, as from a downpour or floods.
2. n. A channel produced by such erosion.
3. n. A total failure or disappointment.
4. n. One who fails to measure up to a standard, especially one who fails a course of training or study.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. In geology, a channel, eroded in one stratum and subsequently filled with material of a different character, such as the channels of shale which meander through coal-seams, cutting out the coal.
2. The excavation, by erosive action of water, of a part of a road-bed, the bank of a stream, a hillside, or the like; also, the hole or break resulting from such excavation.

Wiktionary

1. n. An act of washing something out, or an appliance or device for doing so.
2. n. biology, medicine The cleaning of matter from a physiological system using a fluid.
3. n. meteorology The action whereby falling rainwater clean particles from the air.
4. n. A channel produced by the erosion of a relatively soft surface by a sudden gush of water.
5. n. colloquial A disappointment or total failure; an unsuccessful person.
6. n. A sporting fixture that could not be completed because of rain.
7. n. The aerodynamic effect of a small twist in the shape of an aircraft wing

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The washing out or away of earth, etc., especially of a portion of the bed of a road or railroad by a fall of rain or a freshet; also, a place, especially in the bed of a road or railroad, where the earth has been washed away.
2. n. a complete failure; -- of an enterprise.
3. n. a person who has failed a course of study or training, leaving the program before its completion.
4. v. to be removed by washing; -- of spots and stains, especially on clothing.
5. v. to be removed, broken, or destroyed by the action of flowing water.
6. v. to fail in a course of study or training, especially to leave before completion of the course.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. wash free from unwanted substances, such as dirt
2. v. drain off the color in the course of laundering
3. v. lose color in the process of being washed
4. v. deplete of strength or vitality
5. v. wear or destroy by the force of water
6. v. remove by the application of water or other liquid and soap or some other cleaning agent
7. v. prevent or interrupt due to rain
8. n. the erosive process of washing away soil or gravel by water (as from a roadway)
9. n. the channel or break produced by erosion of relatively soft soil by water
10. n. someone who is unsuccessful