Blanch /(blȧnch)/

Blanch

v. t.

imp. & p. p. Blanched; p. pr. & vb. n. Blanching

  1. To take the color out of, and make white; to bleach; as, to blanch linen; age has blanched his hair.
  2. To bleach by excluding the light, as the stalks or leaves of plants, by earthing them up or tying them together. (Gardening)
  3. To make white by removing the skin of, as by scalding; as, to blanch almonds. (Confectionery & Cookery)
  4. To give a white luster to (silver, before stamping, in the process of coining.).
  5. To cover (sheet iron) with a coating of tin.
  6. Fig.: To whiten; to give a favorable appearance to; to whitewash; to palliate.
    Blanch over the blackest and most absurd things.
Syn. -- To Blanch, Whiten.

To whiten is the generic term, denoting, to render white; as, to whiten the walls of a room. Usually (though not of necessity) this is supposed to be done by placing some white coloring matter in or upon the surface of the object in question. To blanch is to whiten by the removal of coloring matter; as, to blanch linen. So the cheek is blanched by fear, i. e., by the withdrawal of the blood, which leaves it white.

Blanch

v. i.
  1. To grow or become white; as, his cheek blanched with fear; the rose blanches in the sun.
    [Bones] blanching on the grass.

Blanch

v. t.
  1. To avoid, as from fear; to evade; to leave unnoticed. [Obs.]
    Ifs and ands to qualify the words of treason, whereby every man might express his malice and blanch his danger.
    I suppose you will not blanch Paris in your way.
    — Reliq. Wot.
  2. To cause to turn aside or back; as, to blanch a deer.

Blanch

v. i.
  1. To use evasion. [Obs.]
    Books will speak plain, when counselors blanch.

Blanch

n.
  1. Ore, not in masses, but mixed with other minerals. (Mining)