bleaching powder

American  

noun

Chemistry.

1. a white powder that decomposes on contact with water and has the characteristic odor of gaseous chlorine: regarded, when dry, as a mixed calcium hypochlorite-chloride, used as a commercial bleach for wood pulp, textiles, oils, and soaps, and in laundering as a decolorizer and disinfectant.

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bleaching powder British  

noun

1. Also called: chloride of lime.   chlorinated lime.  a white powder with the odour of chlorine, consisting of chlorinated calcium hydroxide with an approximate formula CaCl(OCl).4H 2 O. It is used in solution as a bleaching agent and disinfectant

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Etymology

Origin of bleaching powder

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bleaching powder

According to eyewitnesses, the chemical warehouse stored bleaching powder, plastic and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can intensify fires.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2025

Victims of mustard gas must have their clothes carefully removed, must be "decontaminated" with soap, clean water and sodium bicarbonate, rubbed with a paste of bleaching powder and water, successful antidote for the oily gas.

From Time Magazine Archive

The bleaching-powder solution is now allowed to drain off, and water is circulated through the cistern to wash out what bleaching powder remains in the goods.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 1 "Bisharin" to "Bohea" by Various

The roller revolves slowly, so that the hanks, while passing continuously through the bleaching powder, are for the greater part of the time being exposed to the air.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 1 "Bisharin" to "Bohea" by Various

Chemistry again went to work, and finally obtained the chloride of lime, which is the universal bleaching powder of modern manufactures.

From Knowledge is Power: A View of the Productive Forces of Modern Society and the Results of Labor, Capital and Skill. by Charles Knight