bleach

[ bleech ]

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.

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

/ bliːtʃ /

verb

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

noun

1. a bleaching agent
2. the degree of whiteness resulting from bleaching
3. the act of bleaching

bleach

/ 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.

Derived Forms

• ˈbleacher, noun
• ˈbleachable, adjective

Other Words From

• bleach·a·ble adjective
• bleach·a·bil·i·ty [blee-ch, uh, -, bil, -i-tee], noun
• half-bleached adjective
• non·bleach noun
• o·ver·bleach verb
• re·bleach verb
• sem·i·bleached adjective
• un·bleached adjective
• un·bleach·ing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bleach¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of bleach¹

Old English blǣcan ; related to Old Norse bleikja , Old High German bleih pale

Synonym Study

See whiten.

Example Sentences

Of course, in her Neverland they bleach your teeth so white they glow and Madonna coaches you on your convincing British accent.

From The Daily Beast

The country needs ambulances, bleach, hand sanitizer, medical supplies.

From The Daily Beast

Supplies of soap, bleach, or alcohol-based hand gel also were depleted.

From The Daily Beast

Dead bodies were to be covered in bleach, and typical burial rites of kissing and touching ignored.

From The Daily Beast

Bodies were covered with bleach and buried, and isolation huts burned.

From The Daily Beast

Some of the half-made hay in the meadows looks as though it had been standing out to bleach for the last fortnight.

From Project Gutenberg

Should it not be rendered white by these means, lay the dress in the open air, and bleach it for several days.

From Project Gutenberg

Many larv turn black in alcohol, but boiling them in alcohol in a test tube will bleach them.

From Project Gutenberg

It was the only sign she had given thus far that she had earned her white hair by age, and not by a bleach.

From Project Gutenberg

His bones will bleach on the plain, and his scalp adorn the shield of an Indian chief, or the mane of his horse.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• lighten