白灰水本身，以及刷白這個動作
這一族就是核心畫面本身，沒有比喻。一邊是桶子裡的東西（名詞），一邊是拿刷子做的事（動詞）。其他所有意思都是從這裡借畫面出去的。
noun · B2
A thin white liquid made by mixing water with lime or chalk powder, used for painting walls, fences, and other surfaces bright white.
石灰水、白灰水
核心畫面
You can think of whitewash as a bucket of thin white liquid and a wide brush. You go over a wall once and it turns bright white. What matters is how thin that layer is: it sits on top of whatever was there before. The old colour, the stains, the small cracks are all still underneath — you just cannot see them any more. Hold that picture of a thin white layer laid over something, and the word's other uses stop looking like separate words.
whitewash 可以想成一桶稀稀的白灰水，加一把大刷子。往牆上刷過去，整面就變成白的了。關鍵在於那一層很薄。它只…更多收起
whitewash 可以想成一桶稀稀的白灰水，加一把大刷子。往牆上刷過去，整面就變成白的了。關鍵在於那一層很薄。它只是蓋在原本的東西上面。底下的舊顏色、污漬、細小的裂縫都還在，只是看不見了。把「薄薄一層白，蓋在底下的東西上」這個畫面記住。這個字後面幾個看起來很不一樣的意思，都可以從這裡看過去。From the word’s history
The source records the noun as simply white (adjective) + wash (noun), and the verb as partly white + wash (verb) and partly from the noun. So the literal sense — a white thing you wash onto a surface — is what the word says on its face.
來源記載這個名詞就是 white（白，形容詞）加 wash（沖洗、刷上去的一層，名詞）組成；動詞一部分來自 white + wash（動詞），一部分來自這個名詞。也就是說，「刷上去的一層白」這個字面意思，就寫在字的表面上，不需要繞路。
Wiktionary entry 'whitewash', etymology section supplied in this packet (kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4)
Four branches
把難看的事實蓋掉
牆上的污漬刷一層白就看不見，但污漬還在。把這個動作用在一件事情上，就是這一族：事情沒有變，變的是別人看到的版本。這是一個教學上的連結，不是說歷史上先有比喻再有刷牆。
verb · C1
To hide the true facts about something bad — a serious accident, an illegal action, or someone's past — by leaving the ugly parts out or making them sound much better than they were.
粉飾、洗白、掩蓋
把有色人種從畫面裡洗掉
一樣是刷一層白，但這次被蓋住的不是牆上的污漬，而是本來在畫面裡的人。因為被蓋掉的東西換了種類，這一族值得有自己的畫面，不必硬掛回刷牆那一族。
verb · C1
To tell a story, or make a film or picture, in a way that takes out people who are not white: leaving them out of the history, giving their parts to white actors, or making someone's skin look lighter than it is.
白人化、洗白（抹去有色族裔）
記分板上一片空白
連回核心的「一片白」，只是這次白的是記分板。來源記載這個用法最早出自棒球；這裡把它當畫面來用，不是在斷定歷史怎麼發展。
noun · C1
A win in sport in which the losing side gets nothing at all: no points or goals in a match, or no wins at all across a series of matches. It is also used for a win by a very large margin.
完封、橫掃