bleach

1 of 2

verb

ˈblēch 

bleached; bleaching; bleaches

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

bleachable

ˈblē-chə-bəl 

adjective

bleach

2 of 2

noun

1

: the act or process of bleaching

2

: a preparation used in bleaching

3

: the degree of whiteness obtained by bleaching

Synonyms

Verb

• blanch
• blench
• decolorize
• dull
• fade
• pale
• snow
• wash out
• whiten

Examples of bleach in a Sentence

Verb

bones bleached white by the sun

She bleached her hair blonde.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Her brows have been bleached to a warm blonde, too, and her skin is practically glowing right off the screen. —Kara Nesvig, Allure, 16 Aug. 2024

The Great Barrier Reef in particular faces the prospect of bleaching every year in the near future, coauthor and professor of marine studies at the University of Queensland Ove Hoegh-Guldberg said in the press briefing. —Justine Calma, The Verge, 7 Aug. 2024

Noun

For example, 16mm is used to give more grain and looks a bit ‘older,’ while the bleach bypass results in a much darker image. —Leo Barraclough, Variety, 3 Sep. 2024

Just the light falling forever on the tiles, the orange peels in the trash, the green cap on the bottle of bleach. —Annie Ernaux, The New Yorker, 19 Aug. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English blechen, going back to Old English blǣcan, going back to Germanic *blaikjan- (whence also Middle Dutch bleken "to bleach, whiten," Old High German bleichen "to make pale," Old Icelandic bleikja "to bleach"), weak verb derivative of *blaik- "bright" (whence Old English blāc "bright, shining, pale," Old Saxon blēk, Middle Dutch bleec, Old High German bleih, Old Icelandic bleikr), going back to dialectal Indo-European *b^hlei̯ǵ-, whence also Old Church Slavic blĭštati sę, bliscati sę "to sparkle, glitter," bliskŭ "flash (of lightning)," Lithuanian blỹksti "to become white or pale," bliskė́ti, bliškė́ti "to shine, sparkle"

Note: See also note at black entry 1.

Noun

derivative of bleach entry 1.

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun

1746, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

bleach

1 of 2 verb

ˈblēch 

1

: to remove color or stains from

2

: to make whiter or lighter

3

: to grow white : lose color

bleach

2 of 2 noun

1

: the act or process of bleaching

2

: a chemical used in bleaching