Whiten
['waɪt(ə)n] or ['waɪtn]
Definition
(v. i.) 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.
(v. t.) To make white; to bleach; to blanch; to whitewash; as, to whiten a wall; to whiten cloth.
Inputed by Abner
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. Bleach, blanch, etiolate, make white.
v. n. Bleach, etiolate, become or grow white.
Checker: Presley
Examples
- She was but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already begun to whiten, even as mine has. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- The bones of his gallant army have whitened the sands of Palestine. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- Silk, lace, and wool when bleached with chlorine become hard and brittle, but when whitened with sulphurous acid, they retain their natural characteristics. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- That this solution has bleaching properties is shown by the fact that a colored cloth dipped into it loses its color, and unbleached fabrics immersed in it are whitened. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- For three days the snow fell, ice stopped the current of the rivers, and the birds flew out from crackling branches of the frost-whitened trees. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- Finally the pin was straightened and blanched or whitened. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Mr. Guppy looks into the shade in all directions, discovering everywhere a certain charred and whitened little heap of coal or wood. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- Long in the legs, yielding at the knees, foolish in the face, flannel-jacketed, lime-whitened. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- The whitening is done by boiling the pins in a large copper kettle, which also contains layers of grained tin and a solution of argol or bitartrate of potash. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- I was encouraged by nothing, mother, but by looking at the red sparks dropping out of the fire, and whitening and dying. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- A general whitening of the skin is produced by this lotion without any irritation. William K. David. Secrets of Wise Men, Chemists and Great Physicians.
Editor: Rebekah