bleach

American  

[bleech] / blitʃ /

verb (used with object)

1. to make whiter or lighter in color, such as by exposure to sunlight or a chemical agent; remove the color from.

   Do you think she bleaches her hair?

2. to cause (coral) to undergo a loss of color that indicates declining health: caused by a loss of the algae that normally live symbiotically in the coral’s tissues.

   In sufficient concentrations, the chemicals in certain sunscreens can bleach coral.

3. Photography.  to convert (the silver image of a negative or print) to a silver halide, either to remove the image or to change its tone.

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verb (used without object)

1. to become whiter or lighter in color.

   The grass in the fields gradually bleached as winter approached, leaving the landscape pale and drab.

2. (of coral) to undergo a loss of color that indicates declining health: caused by a loss of the algae that normally live symbiotically in the coral’s tissues.

   Coral reefs are bleaching due to ocean pollution and rising sea temperatures.

noun

1. a bleaching agent.

2. an act of bleaching.

3. degree of paleness achieved in bleaching.

bleach British  

/ bliːtʃ /

verb

1. to make or become white or colourless, as by exposure to sunlight, by the action of chemical agents, etc

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noun

1. a bleaching agent

2. the degree of whiteness resulting from bleaching

3. the act of bleaching

bleach Scientific  

/ blēch /

1. A chemical agent used to whiten or remove color from textiles, paper, food, and other substances and materials. Chlorine, sodium hypochlorite, and hydrogen peroxide are bleaches. Bleaches remove color by oxidation or reduction.

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Related Words

See whiten.

Other Word Forms

• bleachability noun
• bleachable adjective
• bleacher noun
• half-bleached adjective
• nonbleach noun
• overbleach verb
• rebleach verb
• semibleached adjective
• unbleached adjective
• unbleaching adjective

Etymology

Origin of bleach

First recorded before 1050; Middle English blechen, Old English blǣcean, derivative of blāc “pale”; cognate with Old Norse bleikja, Old High German bleichēn

Example Sentences

She has bleached blond hair, brown eyes and no tattoos.

From Los Angeles Times

For his political opponents, Donald Trump offers a target-rich environment: his criminality, his bigotry, his "bleach those lungs"-levels of ignorance, and, of course, his overall weirdness.

From Salon

The climax moment of the tanned, bleached blond 70-year-old wrestler’s speech was when he took off his sports coat and broke into his signature shirt, tearing move showing his biceps, yelling, “Let Trumpmania run wild.”

From Salon

It does say something about the Democrats that they are trailing or within the margin of error in most polls to a convicted felon who once suggested sunlight and bleach injections could cure COVID.

From Salon

But so has Trump, and at least Biden never told us to inject bleach or rambled on about sharks, electrocutions, and airplanes during the Revolutionary War.

From Salon

Related Words

• lighten