n.
Pronunciation: ' bl ē ch
Function: verb
Etymology: Middle English blechen, from Old English bl ǣ cean; akin to Old English bl ā c pale; probably akin to Latin flagrare to burn ― more at BLACK
Date: before 12th century
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 bleach ed her hair> b : to remove, make dull, or sanitize as if by removing color < bleach es 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 \ ' bl ē -ch ə -b ə l \ adjective