Adjacent Words

Whiten definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

WHITEN, v.t. hwitn. To make white; to bleach; to blanch; as, to whiten cloth.
WHITEN, v.i. To grow white; to turn or become white. The hair whitens with age; the sea whitens with foam; the trees in spring whiten with blossoms.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: turn white; "This detergent will whiten your laundry" [syn: whiten, white] [ant: black, blacken, melanise, melanize, nigrify]

Merriam Webster's

verb (whitened; whitening) Date: 14th century transitive verb to make white or whiter <snow whitened the hills> intransitive verb to become white or whiter

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. & intr. make or become white. Derivatives: whitener n. whitening n.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Whiten Whit"en, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Whitened; p. pr. & vb. n. Whitening.] [OE. whitenen; cf. Icel. hv[=i]tna.] To grow white; to turn or become white or whiter; as, the hair whitens with age; the sea whitens with foam; the trees in spring whiten with blossoms.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Whiten Whit"en, v. t. To make white; to bleach; to blanch; to whitewash; as, to whiten a wall; to whiten cloth. The broad stream of the Foyle then whitened by vast flocks of wild swans. --Macaulay. Syn: See Blanch.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(whitens, whitening, whitened) When something whitens or when you whiten it, it becomes whiter or paler in colour. Her knuckles whiten as she clenches her hands harder. ...toothpastes that whiten teeth. VERB: V, V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Bleach, blanch, etiolate, make white. 2. Cover with white, make white. II. v. n. Bleach, blanch, etiolate, become or grow white.

Moby Thesaurus

achromatize, besnow, blanch, bleach, bleach out, blench, blush, bowdlerize, chalk, change color, clean, clean out, clean up, cleanse, clear out, color, crimson, darken, decolor, decolorize, delouse, depurate, deterge, dim, discolor, drain, drain of color, dry-clean, dull, dust, dust off, etiolate, expurgate, extenuate, fade, fade out, flush, freshen, frost, fume, gloss over, glow, grizzle, grow pale, lighten, look black, lose color, lustrate, mantle, pale, peroxide, purge, purify, redden, reform, scavenge, silver, spruce, steam-clean, sugarcoat, sweep out, sweeten, tarnish, tidy, tone down, turn color, turn pale, turn red, turn white, varnish, veneer, wan, wash out, white, whitewash, wipe, wipe off, wipe out, wipe up