Definition of "bleach" in English

noun

1. (uncountable) A chemical, such as sodium hypochlorite or hydrogen peroxide, or a preparation of such a chemical, used for disinfecting or whitening.

2. (countable) A variety of bleach.

verb

1. (transitive) To treat with bleach, especially so as to whiten (fabric, paper, etc.) or lighten (hair).

2. (intransitive) To be whitened or lightened (by the sun, for example).

3. (intransitive, biology, of corals) To lose color due to stress-induced expulsion of symbiotic unicellular algae.

   • Once coral bleaching begins, corals tend to continue to bleach even if the stressor is removed.

4. (transitive, figurative) To make meaningless; to divest of meaning; to make empty.

   • semantically bleached words that have become illocutionary particles

noun

1. An act of bleaching; exposure to the sun.

adjective

1. (archaic) Pale; bleak.

noun

1. (obsolete) A disease of the skin characterized by hypopigmentation and itching, believed in the 17th century to be a form of leprosy.