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 verb1: to remove color or stains from2 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 verb1: to grow white or lose color2of coral : to expel symbiotic zooxanthellae exposing a white skeleton

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