as in bleaching
to make white or whiter by removing color
years of sunlight had almost completely whitened the flag
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of whitening
Your next tooth-whitening and repairing substance might well be a new powder developed by Shanghai researchers.
—
New Atlas, 27 Jan. 2026
One of the presoak methods is more effective in whitening dingy socks.
—Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 13 Jan. 2026
The dyes or whitening agents in these products can cause permanent damage.
—Jolie Kerr, Better Homes & Gardens, 5 Dec. 2025
With snow whitening the field and wind whipping through the air all afternoon, Lindsey completed 18 of 24 passes in a safe diet of screen plays and out routes for 90 yards.
—CBS News, 30 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for whitening
New Atlas, 27 Jan. 2026
One of the presoak methods is more effective in whitening dingy socks.
—Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 13 Jan. 2026
The dyes or whitening agents in these products can cause permanent damage.
—Jolie Kerr, Better Homes & Gardens, 5 Dec. 2025
With snow whitening the field and wind whipping through the air all afternoon, Lindsey completed 18 of 24 passes in a safe diet of screen plays and out routes for 90 yards.
—CBS News, 30 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for whitening
Recent Examples of Synonyms for whitening
Verb
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The figure skater actually began bleaching her own hair with a paintbrush—and only brought in a professional right before the 2026 Winter Olympics.—
Audrey Noble,
Vogue,
19 Feb. 2026
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Fierce sunlight bleaching the stones of the old city, blinding the passengers as porters in white kaffiyehs and djellabas stack their portmanteaus on donkey carts.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Dylan’s Patreon is neither a brilliant multimedia project or a sign that his skills are fading.—
Christian Zilko,
IndieWire,
6 Apr. 2026
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But with game preservation increasingly becoming an important aspect in the industry, Defender seems to be a fading memory for older players, as well as an unknown game for younger ones.—
Daryl Baxter,
Space.com,
4 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Whitening.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whitening. Accessed 10 Apr. 2026.
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