bleach

2 entries found for bleach.
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bleach[1,verb] bleaching powder

Main Entry: ¹bleach
Pronunciation: 'blEch
Function: verb
Etymology: Middle English blechen, from Old English bl[AE]cean; akin to Old English blAc pale; probably akin to Latin flagrare to burn -- more at BLACK
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
- bleach·able /'blE-ch&-b&l/ adjective