blanch

(blănch) also blench (blĕnch)

v. blanched, blanch·ing, blanch·es also blenched or blench·ing or blench·es

v.tr.

1. To take the color from; bleach.

2. To whiten (a growing plant or plant part) by covering to cut off direct light.

3. To whiten (a metal) by soaking in acid or by coating with tin.

a. To scald (almonds, for example) in order to loosen the skin.

b. To scald (food) briefly, as before freezing or as a preliminary stage in preparing a dish.

5. To cause to turn white or become pale.

v.intr.

To turn white or become pale: Their faces blanched in terror.

[Middle English blaunchen, to make white, from Old French blanchir, from blanche, feminine of blanc, white, of Germanic origin; see bhel- in Indo-European roots.]

blanch′er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.	1.	blanched - anemic looking from illness or emotion; "a face turned ashen"; "the invalid's blanched cheeks"; "tried to speak with bloodless lips"; "a face livid with shock"; "lips...livid with the hue of death"- Mary W. Shelley; "lips white with terror"; "a face white with rage" ashen, livid, bloodless, white colorless, colourless - weak in color; not colorful
	2.	blanched - (especially of plants) developed without chlorophyll by being deprived of light; "etiolated celery" etiolate, etiolated plant life, flora, plant - (botany) a living organism lacking the power of locomotion colorless, colourless - weak in color; not colorful