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

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.

Other Word Forms

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

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

Now, after being washed in boiling water and bleach, it was no longer brown at all, but a perfectly lovely, nearly white color, not quite beige, not quite cream.

Read more on Literature

Following the attack the teenagers went back into the house where they tried to bleach the knife, then ran away.

Read more on BBC

“They’re getting that good California sun and are all bleach blonde,” said Jessica West, an environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It has suffered four significant marine heatwaves between 2016 and 2022, causing much of its coral to expel the algae which gives them life and colour - a process called bleaching, which is often fatal.

Read more on BBC

Coral Reefs: Across tropical regions, coral reefs are suffering record mortality due to repeated bleaching events.

Read more on Science Daily

Related Words

• lighten