bleach
[blit͡ʃ]
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.51 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A chemical, such as sodium hypochlorite or hydrogen peroxide, or a preparation of such a chemical, used for disinfecting or whitening.
Uncountable
verb
To treat with bleach, especially so as to whiten (fabric, paper, etc.) or lighten (hair).
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "Candifacio, to make whyte, to bleache, to make to glowe lyke a burnyng cole."
- "The destruction of the colouring matters attached to the bodies to be bleached is effected either by the action of the air and light, of chlorine, or of sulphurous acid."
- "The white sheet bleaching on the hedge, With heigh! the sweet birds, O, how they sing!"
- "[…] when Mrs. Giddy-gaddy came to take out her clothes, deep green stains appeared on every thing, for she had forgotten the green silk lining of a certain cape, and its color had soaked nicely into the pink and blue gowns, the little chemises, and even the best ruffled petticoat. […] “Lay them on the grass to bleach,” said Daisy, with an air of experience."
- "The autumn trees, ravaged as they are, take on the flash of tattered flags kindling in the gloom of cool cathedral caves where gold letters on marble pages describe death in battle and how bones bleach and burn far away in Indian sands."
- "Once coral bleaching begins, corals tend to continue to bleach even if the stressor is removed."
Etymology
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).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *bʰleyǵ-, blechen, blǣċan, *blaikijan, *blaikijaną, *bʰel-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: [blit͡ʃ]
- British English: [bliːt͡ʃ]
Usage
Inflected Forms
bleaches (plural)
bleaches (present, singular)
bleaching (participle, present)
bleached (participle, past)
bleached (past)
bleacher (comparative)
more bleach (comparative)
bleachest (superlative)
most bleach (superlative)