bleach
/bliːtʃ/ (bre, ipa) · /bliːtʃ/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈblēch/ (ame, mw)
bleach — noun
1. a powerful liquid, usually based on chlorine, that people pour onto surfaces or
a powerful liquid, usually based on chlorine, that people pour onto surfaces or clothes to kill germs or to take colour out of fabric.
Maya poured bleach down the kitchen sink to remove the smell.
pour bleach down [drain/sink]
Always wear gloves when you handle bleach, or your skin will burn.
handle bleach + safety warning
A drop of bleach landed on Carlos's blue shirt and turned the spot white.
The cleaner mixed bleach with hot water before scrubbing the bathroom tiles.
Keep the bleach on the top shelf so the children cannot reach it.
- disinfectant
broader: any germ-killing liquid; not all disinfectants remove colour
- chlorine
the active chemical inside most household bleach, not the product itself
文法句型
a bottle of bleach
diluted with bleach
用法筆記
Almost always uncountable. When learners want to talk about a single container, they say 'a bottle of bleach' or 'some bleach', not 'a bleach'.
常見錯誤
bleach — verb
1. to take the colour out of hair, cloth, or another material so that it turns pale
to take the colour out of hair, cloth, or another material so that it turns paler or white, either by treating it with chemicals or by leaving it in strong sunlight; or, of the material itself, to lose its colour in this way.
Lina bleached her hair blonde before the summer holiday in Greece.
bleach + body part + result colour
Years of strong sunlight had bleached the wooden chairs on the porch.
passive cause: sunlight bleaches [object]
After two summers on the washing line, the red shirt had bleached to a faded pink.
The hairdresser warned Marcus that bleaching his beard could damage the skin.
Old photographs slowly bleach to a pale yellow when stored near a window.
文法句型
bleach + object
bleach + adjective (white/blonde)
用法筆記
Often used in the passive when the agent is the sun or time rather than a person ('the curtains have been bleached by the sun'). Distinguish from sense 2: this sense focuses on colour change, while sense 2 focuses on cleaning a surface.
常見錯誤
2. to clean a surface, dish, or piece of clothing by treating it with the strong ch
to clean a surface, dish, or piece of clothing by treating it with the strong chemical called bleach, mainly to kill germs.
Sarah bleached the kitchen counters every Sunday morning.
bleach + surface (cleaning routine)
The nurse bleached the floor of the operating room after the surgery.
bleach + medical surface
Restaurant staff must bleach the chopping boards before they go home.
Aunt Rosa bleached the bath tiles until the grout looked white again.
文法句型
bleach + surface/object
用法筆記
Object is almost always a surface or container that needs to be germ-free (counters, sinks, tiles, dishes). Distinguish from sense 1: here the goal is hygiene, and the colour change is only a side effect.
常見錯誤
3. of coral in the sea, to lose its bright colour and turn pale white because the t
of coral in the sea, to lose its bright colour and turn pale white because the tiny plants that live inside it leave when the sea becomes too warm or too polluted.
Large parts of the Great Barrier Reef have bleached during recent heatwaves.
intransitive: coral/reef bleaches
Divers reported that the coral near the island had bleached almost overnight.
perfect tense + time adverb
When the sea grows two degrees warmer, sensitive coral begins to bleach.
Scientists in Okinawa watched the bright pink coral slowly bleach to a ghostly white.
文法句型
coral + bleach
bleached coral
用法筆記
Subject must be coral or a reef. Most common in environmental and science writing, often in the past participle 'bleached' as a modifier ('bleached coral', 'bleached reef').