whiten

[ hwahyt-n, wahyt-n ]
/ ˈʰwaɪt n, ˈwaɪt n /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR whiten ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with or without object)

to make or become white.

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Origin of whiten

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English whitenen;see white, -en1

synonym study for whiten

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 WORDS FROM whiten

un·whit·ened, adjective

Words nearby whiten

white meter, White Mountains, white mule, white muscle, white mustard, whiten, white nationalism, whitener, whiteness, white night, White Nile
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to whiten

bleach, blanch, whitewash, lighten, frost, dull, etiolate, blench, fade, white, pale, silver, grizzle, decolorize, chalk, decolor

Example sentences from the Web for whiten

British Dictionary definitions for whiten

whiten
/ (ˈwaɪtən) /

verb

to make or become white or whiter; bleach

Derived forms of whiten

whitening, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012