Main Entry: ¹bleach

Pronunciation: \ˈblēch\

Function: verb

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

Date: before 12th century

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