bleach

American  

[bleech] / blitʃ /

verb (used with object)

• bleaches,
  present (3rd person singular)
• bleached,
  past participle,  past
• bleaching
  present participle

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)

• bleaches,
  present (3rd person singular)
• bleached,
  past participle,  past
• bleaching
  present participle

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

• bleaches
  plural

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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Synonym Usage

See whiten.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• bleaches
  plural

Participles

• bleaching
  present
• bleached
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• bleach
  simple
• bleaches
  simple
• have bleached
  perfect
• has bleached
  perfect
• am bleaching
  progressive
• are bleaching
  progressive
• is bleaching
  progressive
• have been bleaching
  perfect progressive
• has been bleaching
  perfect progressive

Past

• bleached
  simple
• had bleached
  perfect
• was bleaching
  progressive
• were bleaching
  progressive
• had been bleaching
  perfect progressive

Future

• will bleach
  simple
• will have bleached
  perfect
• will be bleaching
  progressive
• will have been bleaching
  perfect progressive

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

Explanation

To bleach is to whiten, or to strip of color. After many summers of use, the sun will bleach your favorite beach towel. You might bleach your white laundry, or bleach your dark brown hair until it's pale blonde. In both cases, you use bleach, a strong chemical solution that can often be found in laundry rooms and hair salons. The Old English root word is blæcan, "bleach" or "whiten," from a Germanic source it curiously shares with the word black.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bleach bleaches bleached bleaching

Unlike bleach and wipes, a product made of buttermilk and mayo is not exactly designed for mass consumption.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

People have been urged to stay away from a flooded quarry where the water has a pH level "comparable to bleach", following a surge in visitors over the bank holiday weekend.

From BBC ● May 28, 2026

To that end, these cargos are as intentional and well-lived as a perfectly executed skate trick: they’re hand-dyed, but also arrive bearing natural bleach, oil and scuff marks.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026

At 7:00 am, relatives brought packages: deodorant, toothpaste, soap and shampoo in labeled plastic bags, plus disinfectant and bleach -- provisions essential for maintaining hygiene in the latrines of tiny cells.

From Barron's ● Jan. 10, 2026

He got a bottle of Clorox bleach and scrubbed the room from top to bottom, washing countertops and sinks, everything, with bleach.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston

If your husband won’t take this responsibility, if instead he dumps the anxiety on you, then that’s what needs attention — not the specifics of who bleaches the house.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 20, 2022

Coral bleaches as a response to heat stress and scientists hope most of the coral will recover from the latest event.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 28, 2022

At altitudes less than 1 km in the atmosphere, conditions are relatively warm and humid so smoke particles are often not very viscous and brown carbon bleaches quickly.

From Salon ● Nov. 13, 2022

At the end, the audiences from both parts returned to the bleaches for a bleak look at that ravishment.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2020

It lightens the polish to a bright vomit green and bleaches the carpet surrounding it.

From "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson

It reflected a man with bleached blonde curls who left home in Barbados as a teenager to pursue his dreams in England.

From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2026

A study published on Tuesday showed that more than half of the world's coral reefs were bleached between 2014-2017 -- a record-setting episode now being eclipsed by another series of devastating heatwaves.

From Barron's ● Feb. 10, 2026

Wooden balconies above the bar were bleached white from the heat, and several trees outside were scorched of all their leaves.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 29, 2025

She also admired Matilda who had sworn her to secrecy about the parrot job she had brought off at home, and also the great hair-oil switch which had bleached her father's hair.

From "Matilda" by Roald Dahl

Scientists have already connected them with widespread coral bleaching, large-scale deaths of marine organisms, harmful algal blooms and major disruptions to fisheries and aquaculture.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026

Nolasco said a taper is the favorite haircut these days and there’s also players bleaching their hair blond for the playoffs.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2026

The arrival of a potentially powerful El Nino weather system this year could devastate coral reefs around the world already weakened by back-to-back rounds of bleaching, scientists warn.

From Barron's ● May 22, 2026

The last global mass bleaching event was declared in 2024.

From Barron's ● May 22, 2026

The rain and wind were overtaking her, rubbing away the details of her legs; the sun was bleaching her hooves into faint outlines, merging into the cliff.

From "Ceremony:" by Leslie Marmon Silko

Related Words

• lighten