씻다
ssit-da
Washing your hands, washing away a defeat
The picture Water runs over something, carries off what was stuck to it, and leaves the clean surface behind. 씻다 sends it away in running water; 닦다 rubs it off with a cloth.
Where the picture shows up in 씻다
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water takes the dirt off hands
밥 먹기 전에 손 씻으세요.
bap meok-gi jeo-ne son ssi-seu-se-yo
Wash your hands before eating.
Two hands rub under the tap and the grime runs down the drain with the suds
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water lifts grit off vegetables
채소를 깨끗이 씻어서 썰어 주세요.
chae-so-reul kkae-kkeu-si ssi-seo-seo sseo-reo ju-se-yo
Wash the vegetables well and then slice them.
Lettuce shaken in a big basin while the sand settles to the bottom of the water
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the whole body rinsed down
땀 흘렸으니 먼저 씻고 올게요.
ttam heul-lyeo-sseu-ni meon-jeo ssit-go ol-ge-yo
I'm sweaty — let me go wash up first.
The shower runs from head to feet, sweeping the sweat off and out past the feet
With no object at all, 씻다 means washing your whole body.
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a mark on the mind rinsed away
이번 경기로 지난 패배를 씻었어요.
i-beon gyeong-gi-ro ji-nan pae-bae-reul ssi-seo-sseo-yo
This match washed away last week's loss.
A stain labelled 'last defeat' is pushed thin by the current of this match until it is gone
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hands in water, done with that work
그 일에서는 손 씻었어요.
geu i-re-seo-neun son ssi-seo-sseo-yo
I've washed my hands of that business.
Two hands caked with the soil of the job are dipped, shaken clean, and lifted away from it
All of it in one picture
씻다 is one picture: water carries off what was stuck on. Water passes over your hands and the dirt goes down the drain; shake the leaves in a basin and the grit sinks; shower water runs down the body and the sweat leaves by your feet. Let a current push the stain off your mind and you have washed away the defeat; dip the soil-caked hands in water and you have washed your hands of the business.