BLEACH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bleach mean? 

• BLEACH (noun)
  The noun BLEACH has 3 senses:

1. the whiteness that results from removing the color from something

2. an agent that makes things white or colorless

3. the act of whitening something by bleaching it (exposing it to sunlight or using a chemical bleaching agent)

  Familiarity information: BLEACH used as a noun is uncommon.

• BLEACH (verb)
  The verb BLEACH has 2 senses:

1. remove color from

2. make whiter or lighter

  Familiarity information: BLEACH used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BLEACH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The whiteness that results from removing the color from something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

a complete bleach usually requires several applications

Hypernyms ("bleach" is a kind of...):

white; whiteness (the quality or state of the achromatic color of greatest lightness (bearing the least resemblance to black))

Derivation:

bleach (remove color from)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An agent that makes things white or colorless

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

blanching agent; bleach; bleaching agent; whitener

Hypernyms ("bleach" is a kind of...):

agent (a substance that exerts some force or effect)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bleach"):

benzoyl peroxide (a white crystalline peroxide used in bleaching (flour or oils or fats) and as a catalyst for free radical reactions)

bleaching powder; chloride of lime; chlorinated lime (a white powder comprised of calcium hydroxide and chloride and hypochlorite and used to bleach and/or disinfect)

calcium hypochlorite (any hypochlorite of calcium; used as a bleaching agent)

chlorine dioxide (an explosive gas (ClO2) used chiefly in bleaching paper or starch or soap or flour and in water purification)

chlorine water (an aqueous solution of chlorine used as a bleaching agent)

Clorox (a commercial bleaching agent)

sodium hypochlorite (an unstable salt (NaOCl) used as a bleaching agent and disinfectant)

Holonyms ("bleach" is a substance of...):

bleach liquor (a solution containing bleaching agents that is used to bleach textiles or paper pulp)

liquid bleach (a solution containing bleaching agents; used for laundry)

Derivation:

bleach (make whiter or lighter)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of whitening something by bleaching it (exposing it to sunlight or using a chemical bleaching agent)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("bleach" is a kind of...):

lightening; whitening (changing to a lighter color)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bleach"):

etiolation ((botany) the act of causing a plant to develop without chlorophyll by growing it without exposure to sunlight)

Derivation:

bleach (make whiter or lighter)

• BLEACH (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they bleach    ... he / she / it bleaches   
Past simple: bleached   
Past participle: bleached   
-ing form: bleaching   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Remove color from

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

bleach; bleach out; decolor; decolorise; decolorize; decolour; decolourise; decolourize; discolorise; discolorize; discolourise

Context example:

The sun bleached the red shirt

Hypernyms (to "bleach" is one way to...):

discolor (cause to lose or change color)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

bleach (the whiteness that results from removing the color from something)

bleacher (a worker who bleaches (cloth or flour etc.))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make whiter or lighter

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

bleach the laundry

Hypernyms (to "bleach" is one way to...):

white; whiten (turn white)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bleach"):

peroxide (bleach with peroxide)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

bleach (the act of whitening something by bleaching it (exposing it to sunlight or using a chemical bleaching agent))

bleach (an agent that makes things white or colorless)

bleacher (a worker who bleaches (cloth or flour etc.))

 Context examples 

Changing ocean environments have led to a phenomenon called coral bleaching when warmer waters cause the cnidarian to expel the algae from its body, which turns the coral reefs white.

(Voracious fish defend coral reefs against warming, Wikinews)

"Just look at plastic playground toys, park benches, or lawn chairs, which can rapidly become sun-bleached."

(Sunlight degrades polystyrene faster than expected, National Science Foundation)

A chemical used in manufacturing, as a bleach, and to kill bacteria and other organisms in water.

(Chlorine, NCI Dictionary)

A process that employs special bleaching agents for restoring the color of teeth.

(Dental Whitening, NCI Thesaurus)

I shall gather manna for her morning and night: the plains and hillsides in the moon are bleached with manna, Adele.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Half of the Great Barrier Reef, the largest reef system in the world, suffered catastrophic damage in a 2016 heat wave, followed by bleaching the next year.

(Loudspeakers used to attract fish back to dying coral reefs, SciDev.Net)

“They got away,” I said cheerfully; but I felt a sinking at the heart and seemed to divine the presence of bleached bones somewhere on that beach.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

They include the pesticide DDT and dioxin, a byproduct of herbicide production and paper bleaching.

(Persistent organic pollutants in maternal blood linked to smaller fetal size, National Institutes of Health)

A chemical used in bleaches, dyes, cleansers, antiseptics, and disinfectants.

(Hydrogen peroxide, NCI Dictionary)

An environmental stress indicator for coral; if conditions for corals are not optimum, the corals will expel the algae that live among the living polyps, therefore giving the colony a bleached appearance.

(Coral bleaching, NOAA Paleoclimate Glossary)