as in fading
to make white or whiter by removing color
bleached the stained shirt back to its original white
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Recent Examples of bleaching
The Laundress Whites Detergent really boosts the brightness of everything—and no yellowish tint that often comes from bleaching clothes.
—
Alicia Geigel, Southern Living, 7 Oct. 2025
More than that, the YouTuber decided to rid her face of eyebrows, bleaching the hairs above her eyes to match the hue of her hair.
—Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 3 Oct. 2025
For example, coral reefs are bleaching more often and dying due to ocean warming and acidification, undermining fisheries, marine biodiversity and economic sectors such as tourism.
—Lauren Gifford, Space.com, 25 Aug. 2025
The pic also showed off Jennifer Aniston’s money piece highlights, the face-framing way to give yourself a bit of a blonde glow without bleaching your whole head, sort of the way a ring light illuminates you from the front.
—Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 19 Aug. 2025
By midmorning in the Central Valley, the light turns hard and white, bleaching the sky and flattening every shadow.
—Dean Florez, Mercury News, 19 Aug. 2025
Similarly, bleaching with chemicals like permanganate or hypochlorite, which consumes substantial water, can be replaced by ozone bleaching using air, significantly reducing water usage and simplifying the drying process.
—Sj Studio, Sourcing Journal, 5 Dec. 2024
To keep their golden color, sultanas are treated with sulfur dioxide, a bleaching preservative that prevents them from oxidizing (turning brown) and retains their quality and uniform color.
—Lauren O'Connor, Ms, Health, 29 Sep. 2024
Alicia Geigel, Southern Living, 7 Oct. 2025
More than that, the YouTuber decided to rid her face of eyebrows, bleaching the hairs above her eyes to match the hue of her hair.
—Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 3 Oct. 2025
For example, coral reefs are bleaching more often and dying due to ocean warming and acidification, undermining fisheries, marine biodiversity and economic sectors such as tourism.
—Lauren Gifford, Space.com, 25 Aug. 2025
The pic also showed off Jennifer Aniston’s money piece highlights, the face-framing way to give yourself a bit of a blonde glow without bleaching your whole head, sort of the way a ring light illuminates you from the front.
—Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 19 Aug. 2025
By midmorning in the Central Valley, the light turns hard and white, bleaching the sky and flattening every shadow.
—Dean Florez, Mercury News, 19 Aug. 2025
Similarly, bleaching with chemicals like permanganate or hypochlorite, which consumes substantial water, can be replaced by ozone bleaching using air, significantly reducing water usage and simplifying the drying process.
—Sj Studio, Sourcing Journal, 5 Dec. 2024
To keep their golden color, sultanas are treated with sulfur dioxide, a bleaching preservative that prevents them from oxidizing (turning brown) and retains their quality and uniform color.
—Lauren O'Connor, Ms, Health, 29 Sep. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bleaching
Verb
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Even the combative Venezuela of eight years ago, where kids with homemade shields assembled in the streets day after day to battle the dictatorship’s goons, is a fading memory.—
Quico Toro,
The Atlantic,
4 Nov. 2025
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Cheney is remembered as a chief architect of the war in Iraq after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and a member of an old Republican Party guard that is quickly fading away.—
Nicole Fallert,
USA Today,
4 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Gerdes loves to work silver foliage plants like dusty miller (Jacobaea maritima) into containers, their light, shimmery leaves brightening up the garden.—
Miranda Crowell,
Better Homes & Gardens,
27 Oct. 2025
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Chicken and rice is a satisfying choice for brightening anyone's day.—
Emma Ashe,
Southern Living,
27 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Right now the retailer is taking 35% off Crest 3D Whitestrips, a dentist-recommended, safe for enamel teeth-whitening pick.—
Alanna Martine Kilkeary,
Glamour,
8 Oct. 2025
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These popular teeth whitening strips from Amazon, which have earned more than 34,700 five-star ratings — and a rave review from our shopping editor.—
Averi Baudler,
PEOPLE,
7 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bleaching.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bleaching. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.
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