noun / verb
bleach
BLEECH/bliːtʃ/
A whitening or disinfecting substance, or treating something this way with chemicals or sunlight.
The bleach lightens the stained cloth in the basin.
Etymology
Blæcan already meant whitening cloth by removing its color, including through sunlight or chemical agents. The modern verb preserves this idea of making something lighter through color loss.
In context
It's also going to bleach slightly in the sunlight, and that's going to help whiten the uh the the linen.
More examples
- Sunlight bleached the curtains.
- They tested several bleaches.
- The fabric is bleaching in the sun.
Forms
bleach · bleaches · bleached · bleaching
Similar words
- whiten
- Does not specify chemicals or sunlight.
- disinfect
- Kills germs without necessarily changing color.