bleach
/bliːtʃ/ (bre, ipa) · /bliːtʃ/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈblēch/ (ame, mw)
bleach — 名詞
1. a powerful liquid, usually based on chlorine, that people pour onto surfaces or
漂白水
用來消毒或去色的強效化學清潔劑
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.
Maya 把漂白水倒進廚房水槽，去除異味。
pour bleach down [drain/sink]
Always wear gloves when you handle bleach, or your skin will burn.
處理漂白水時一定要戴手套，否則皮膚會被灼傷。
handle bleach + safety warning
A drop of bleach landed on Carlos's blue shirt and turned the spot white.
一滴漂白水滴到 Carlos 的藍襯衫上，那塊地方就變白了。
The cleaner mixed bleach with hot water before scrubbing the bathroom tiles.
清潔人員把漂白水和熱水混合後，再去刷浴室磁磚。
Keep the bleach on the top shelf so the children cannot reach it.
把漂白水放在最上層的架子，這樣小孩才搆不到。
- 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 — 動詞
1. to take the colour out of hair, cloth, or another material so that it turns pale
漂白；染淡
用化學藥劑或日曬讓顏色變淡或變白
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.
Lina 在去希臘度暑假之前，把頭髮漂成金色。
bleach + body part + result colour
Years of strong sunlight had bleached the wooden chairs on the porch.
多年的強烈日曬已經把陽台上的木椅曬到褪色發白。
passive cause: sunlight bleaches [object]
After two summers on the washing line, the red shirt had bleached to a faded pink.
在曬衣繩上曬了兩個夏天之後，那件紅襯衫已經褪成淡淡的粉紅色。
The hairdresser warned Marcus that bleaching his beard could damage the skin.
髮型師提醒 Marcus 把鬍子漂白可能會傷到皮膚。
Old photographs slowly bleach to a pale yellow when stored near a window.
舊照片放在窗邊，會慢慢褪成淡黃色。
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
用漂白水清潔
以漂白水擦洗表面以殺菌
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.
Sarah 每個星期天早上都會用漂白水擦廚房檯面。
bleach + surface (cleaning routine)
The nurse bleached the floor of the operating room after the surgery.
手術結束後，那位護理師用漂白水擦洗開刀房的地板。
bleach + medical surface
Restaurant staff must bleach the chopping boards before they go home.
餐廳員工下班前必須用漂白水把砧板消毒乾淨。
Aunt Rosa bleached the bath tiles until the grout looked white again.
Aunt Rosa 用漂白水刷浴室磁磚，直到縫隙又變白為止。
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
白化
珊瑚因海水異常而失色變白
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.
近年的熱浪期間，大堡礁有大片區域出現白化。
intransitive: coral/reef bleaches
Divers reported that the coral near the island had bleached almost overnight.
潛水員回報說，那座小島附近的珊瑚幾乎一夜之間就白化了。
perfect tense + time adverb
When the sea grows two degrees warmer, sensitive coral begins to bleach.
海水只要再升高兩度，敏感的珊瑚就會開始白化。
Scientists in Okinawa watched the bright pink coral slowly bleach to a ghostly white.
Okinawa 的科學家看著鮮粉紅色的珊瑚慢慢白化成蒼白的顏色。
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').