Verb 1. whitewash - cover up a misdemeanor, fault, or error; "Let's not whitewash the crimes of Stalin"; "She tried to gloss over her mistakes"
hush up, sleek over, gloss over
cover up, cover - hide from view or knowledge; "The President covered the fact that he bugged the offices in the White House"
2. whitewash - cover with whitewash; "whitewash walls"
wash - apply a thin coating of paint, metal, etc., to
calcimine - cover with calcimine; "calcimine the walls"
3. whitewash - exonerate by means of a perfunctory investigation or through biased presentation of data
acquit, assoil, exculpate, exonerate, discharge, clear - pronounce not guilty of criminal charges; "The suspect was cleared of the murder charges"