To launder means to wash clothes and linens. When you launder your soccer uniform, you're cleaning it so it's fresh for the next game. Hotels launder thousands of towels and sheets every day. Before washing machines, people laundered clothes by hand, scrubbing them on washboards or beating them against rocks in streams.

The word also has a darker meaning: laundering money means disguising illegally obtained cash so it appears legitimate. Criminals might run money through fake businesses to hide where it really came from, the way actual laundering makes dirty clothes look clean again. Law enforcement agencies work to catch people who launder money from crimes like theft or fraud.

Laundering can also mean any process of cleaning up or concealing something questionable. A politician might be accused of laundering their reputation by hiding past mistakes. The connection between all these meanings is the idea of taking something dirty or suspect and making it appear clean and acceptable.

A place where clothes are washed is called a laundry, and a basket of clothes waiting to be washed is also called laundry. The person who does this work professionally might be called a launderer, though you'll more commonly hear laundry worker or dry cleaner.