whiten
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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whitens,
present (3rd person singular)
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whitened,
past participle, past
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whitening
present participle
verb
Synonym Usage
Whiten, blanch, bleach mean to make or become white. To whiten implies giving a white color or appearance by putting a substance of some kind on the outside: to whiten shoes. To blanch implies taking away natural or original color throughout: to blanch celery by growing it in the dark. To bleach implies making white by placing in (sun) light or by using chemicals: to bleach linen, hair.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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whitensimple
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whitenssimple
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have whitenedperfect
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has whitenedperfect
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am whiteningprogressive
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are whiteningprogressive
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is whiteningprogressive
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have been whiteningperfect progressive
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has been whiteningperfect progressive
Past
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whitenedsimple
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had whitenedperfect
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was whiteningprogressive
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were whiteningprogressive
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had been whiteningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of whiten
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English whitenen; see white, -en 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
For example, you can whiten teeth with a single tap.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 30, 2025
Their interlocking hands whiten as their grip tightens and Neta recalls what happened next.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2023
The cream, which contained ingredients to whiten the skin of European women, was sold off by the house and sed to create the skincare company of the same name.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 9, 2023
And salon services to whiten a naturally brown beard aren’t cheap.
From New York Times ● Dec. 23, 2022
August takes a deep breath and grips the bull hook so hard his knuckles whiten.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Maybe I’ll still be kept warm by my summer odyssey come December, when frost whitens the lawn.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
According to Greene’s tweet, the premium retouching option costs $11.99 and "whitens teeth, evens skin tone and removed blemishes and scars."
From Fox News ● Nov. 2, 2021
Poach fish gently in oil until it fully whitens and flakes easily, about 5 minutes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2018
Nights can turn bright if the world mysteriously whitens, as though one’s optic nerves were rebelling.
From New York Times ● Nov. 17, 2016
Condemn it because it sends down stifling darkness, sucks the life from grass, and whitens the sapling leaf for trifling, fluttering friends?
From "Grendel" by John Gardner
Wash the navy beans and run hot water through them until they are slightly whitened.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 22, 2023
He had red hair and a face whitened with talcum powder.
From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2022
More common, however, are rough-edge rectangles made of brawny pencil strokes and dynamic cross-hatching and sometimes whitened by erasures and abrasions.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 8, 2022
When the newly whitened Max — who now goes by Matthew Fisher — abandons Harlem for Atlanta, Buni and another friend, Agamemnon, show up at the train depot, hoping to convince him to stay.
From New York Times ● Feb. 24, 2022
The helmsman stared at the compass; his knuckles whitened on the wheel.
From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham
After four hours, the teeth showed noticeable whitening.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 23, 2026
At the import expo, it showcased a new whitening toothpaste for the Chinese market, developed at Crest’s Beijing research institute.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 30, 2025
A BBC undercover journalist approached salons and agreed to meet and purchase the whitening kits.
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2025
In food, calcium phosphate is used as a whitening agent.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2025
Then, in the quiet of that whitening night, standing in new snow with the pine boughs coated above him, Turner felt the hand that he had feared all night long grab him by the shoulder.
From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
