Bleach
BLEACH, verb transitive [Eng. bleak.]
To whiten; to make white or whiter; to take out color; applied to many things, but particularly to cloth and thread. Bleaching is variously performed, but in general by steeping the cloth in lye, or a solution of pot or pearl ashes, and then exposing it to the solar rays.
BLEACHing is now generally performed, on the large scale, by means of chlorine or the oxymuriatic acid, which has the property of whitening vegetable substances.
BLEACH, verb intransitive To grow white in any manner.