bleach

¹bleach

verb \ˈblēch\

Definition of BLEACH

transitive verb

1

: to remove color or stains from

2

a : to make whiter or lighter especially by physical or chemical removal of color <bleach clothing> <the sun had bleached her hair> b : to remove, make dull, or sanitize as if by removing color <bleaches colonialism of its genocidal legacy — H. A. Giroux>

intransitive verb

1

: to grow white or lose color

2

of coral : to expel symbiotic zooxanthellae exposing a white skeleton

— bleach·able \ˈblē-chə-bəl\ adjective

Examples of BLEACH

1. bones bleached white by the sun
2. She bleached her hair blonde.

Origin of BLEACH

Middle English blechen, from Old English blǣcean; akin to Old English blāc pale; probably akin to Latin flagrare to burn — more at black

First Known Use: before 12th century

Related to BLEACH

Synonyms: blanch, whiten, blench, decolorize, dull, fade, pale, snow, wash out

Antonyms: darken, deepen, embrown

Related Words: brighten, lighten; dim, mat (also matte or matt); etiolate; whitewash; frost, silver

Near Antonyms: blacken; blotch, checker, dapple, daub, discolor, fleck, marble, mottle, pattern, polychrome, shade, speck, speckle, splotch, spot, streak, striate, stripe, tarnish, variegate; color, dye, paint, pigment, stain, tincture, tinge, tint; burnish, polish, shine

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Rhymes with BLEACH

beach, beech, breach, breech, each, leach, leech, peach, pleach, preach, reach, screech, speech, teach