blea2 (ble)

[Origin uncertain; perhaps bleaberry, n. Same as blaeberry . bleach1 (blech), v. [ blechen , blecan (= D. bleeken = OHG. bleichen , MHG. G. blei chen = Icel. bleikja = Sw. bleka = Dan. blege ), make white, cause to fade (cf. blācian , become white or pale), blāc , pale, bleak: see bleak1 , blake .] I. trans. To make white or whiter by removing color; whiten; blanch; make pale; specifically, to whiten (as linen, etc.) by wash- ing and exposure to the action of the air and sunlight, or by chemical preparations. See bleaching. Immortal liberty, whose look sublime Hath bleached the tyrant's cheek in every varying clime. Smollett , Ode to Independence. The bones of men, In some forgotten battle slain, And bleached by drifting wind and rain. Scott, L. of the L., iii. 5. The robed and mitred apostles, bleached and rain-washed by the ages, rose into the blue air like huge snow figures, II. James, Jr. , Trans, Sketches, p. 210. =Syn. Blanch , etc. See whiten. II. in trans. 1. To become white in any manner; become pale or colorle . Along the snows a stiffened corse, Stretched out and bleaching in the northern blast. Thomson, Winter, 1. 321. 2. To become morally pure. [Rare.] bleach1t, a. [