bleach

Meaning

Noun

1. (uncountable) A chemical, such as sodium hypochlorite or hydrogen peroxide, or a preparation of such a chemical, used for disinfecting or whitening.
2. (countable) A variety of bleach.

Verb

1. (transitive) To treat with bleach, especially so as to whiten (fabric, paper, etc.) or lighten (hair).
2. (intransitive) To be whitened or lightened (by the sun, for example).
3. (intransitive) To lose color due to stress-induced expulsion of symbiotic unicellular algae.
4. (figuratively, transitive) To make meaningless; to divest of meaning; to make empty.

Adj

Pale; bleak.

Synonyms

whiten

blanch

whitewash

bleaching agent

decolor

decolour

decolourise

whitener

decolourize

decolorize

make white

fade

bleach out

decolorise

wash

🧽

blanching agent

discolorise

discolorize

discolourise

discolor

grow white

discolour

turn white

paint white

decolourizer

Clorox

be white snow

abort

chlorine bleach

bleacher

cleanse

clear

damage

decolorant

decompose

decorate

discolouration

dry-clean

fading

hurt

launder

lighten

pale

paleness

peroxide

pipe-clay

refine

scald

white

whiteness

Translations

blanquear

bleichen

blanchir

candeggiare

Bleichmittel

imbiancare

sbiancare

lejía

varechina

candeggina

eau de Javel

weißen

bleken

λευκαίνω

descorante

Pronounced as (IPA)

/bliːt͡ʃ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: bleche

Inherited from Old English: blǣċ

Inherited from Middle English: blechen

Inherited from Old English: blǣċan

Cognate with Dutch: bleken

Cognate with German: bleichen

Cognate with Danish: blege

Cognate with Swedish: bleka

Cognate with Old English: blāc

Inherited from Old English: blǣċu

In summary

From Middle English blechen, from Old English blǣċan (“to bleach, whiten”), from Proto-West Germanic *blaikijan, from Proto-Germanic *blaikijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to shine”).
Cognate with Dutch bleken (“to bleach”), German bleichen (“to bleach”), Danish blege, Swedish bleka (“to bleach”). Related to Old English blāc (“pale”) (English blake; compare also bleak).