לִשְׁטוֹף כֵּלִים Those who study the דַּף יוֹמִי– the daily page (of Talmud) – probably came across the word לְהִשְׁתַּטֵּף today. In the Talmudic context, that word means to rinse oneself. It’s a word that is no longer used in spoken Hebrew.
When pronounced by your average Israeli, להשתטף sounds just like the word for to participate – לְהִשְׁתַּתֵּף, a word that can be found of the lips of every Israeli schoolchild and teacher. To tell the difference between these two reflexive-intensive הִתְפַּעֵל verbs, look at their roots:
להשתטף – the root is שׁ.ט.פ meaning rinsing להשתתף – the root is שׁ.ת.פ meaning partnership While להשתטף no longer gets spoken, its root, שׁ.ט.פ, is alive and well, most commonly in the active-simple פָּעַל verb, לִשְׁטוֹף– to rinse.
Everyday expressions include:
לִשְׁטוֹף כֵּלִים – to rinse/wash (the) dishes
שְׁטִיפַת כֵּלִים – (the act of) rinsing/washing (the) dishes
שְׁטִיפַת מֹחַ – brainwash Another expression that also means to rinse (the) dishes is לְהַדִּיחַ כֵּלִים.
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