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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

blanch en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

  • /blænt͡ʃ/
  • /blɑːnt͡ʃ/
  • (Southern-England) audio
  • (Southern-England) audio
  • (US) audio

Etymology

From Middle English blaunchen, from Old French blanchir, from Old French blanc (“white”), from Early Medieval Latin blancus, from Frankish *blank, from Proto-Germanic *blankaz (“bright, shining, blinding, white”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleyǵ- (“to shine”). Cognates Cognate with blench (“to deceive, to trick”) through Proto-Indo-European, whence other etymology of blanch.

Meanings

  1. (intransitive) To grow or become white.
    • The rose blanches in the sun.
    • His cheek blanched with fear.
    • "Where is the target?" "Bearing zero-four-five, Comrade. Bearing is constant," the michman replied, "closing rapidly." Tupolev blanched. "Left full rudder, all ahead flank!" 1984, Tom Clancy, “The Seventeenth Day: Sunday, 19 December”, in The Hunt for Red October, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, →ISBN, page 456:
    • Nurse Cramer's face blanched and she turned to Dunbar desperately for aid. 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 171:
  2. (transitive) To take the color out of, and make white; to bleach.
    • to blanch linen
    • Age has blanched his hair.
  3. (transitive) To cook by dipping briefly into boiling water, then directly into cold water.
  4. (transitive) To whiten, for example the surface of meat, by plunging into boiling water and afterwards into cold, so as to harden the surface and retain the juices.
  5. (transitive) To bleach by excluding light, for example the stalks or leaves of plants by earthing them up or tying them together.
  6. (transitive) To make white by removing the skin of, for example by scalding.
    • to blanch almonds
  7. (transitive) To give a white lustre to (silver, before stamping, in the process of coining)
  8. (intransitive) To cover (sheet iron) with a coating of tin.
  9. (figuratively, transitive) To give a favorable appearance to; to whitewash; to whiten;
    • c. 1680, John Tillotson, The indispensable necessity of the knowledge of the Holy Scripture Blanch over the blackest and most absurd things.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
blanches Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
blanching Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
blanched Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
blanched Tense=Past lexicographic

Deriveds

emblanch · blanched almond · blanchable · blanch up · preblanch · blancher

Relateds

parboil · blanch holding

Synonyms

palliate

Translations (59)

ga bánaigh (to make white) · pl wypłowić (to make white) · es escaldar (to cook by dipping briefly into boiling water, then directly into cold water) · pl blednąć (to grow or become white) · fr blanchir (to cook by dipping briefly into boiling water, then directly into cold water) · pl blanszować (to cook by dipping briefly into boiling water, then directly into cold water) · sv blanchera (to cook by dipping briefly into boiling water, then directly into cold water) · fi valkaista (to make white) · pl zblanszować (to cook by dipping briefly into boiling water, then directly into cold water) · es blanquecer (to make white) · fr monder (to cook by dipping briefly into boiling water, then directly into cold water) · ru бели́ть (to make white) · ru бледне́ть (to grow or become white) · grc λευκαίνω (to make white) · nl verbleken (to grow or become white) · ru побледне́ть (to grow or become white) · pl płowieć (to grow or become white) · hu blansíroz (to cook by dipping briefly into boiling water, then directly into cold water) · es amarillear (to grow or become white) · fr blanchir (to grow or become white) · ota بیاضلانمق (to grow or become white) · ru беле́ть (to grow or become white) · nl bleken (to make white) · de blanchieren (to cook by dipping briefly into boiling water, then directly into cold water) · bg побелявам (to grow or become white) · pl wypławiać (to make white) · bg избелвам (to make white) · sv bleka (to make white) · es blanquear (to cook by dipping briefly into boiling water, then directly into cold water) · es palidecer (to grow or become white) · fi kalveta (to grow or become white) · nb skålde (to cook by dipping briefly into boiling water, then directly into cold water) · gl aferventar (to cook by dipping briefly into boiling water, then directly into cold water) · grc λευκαίνω (to grow or become white) · ru побеле́ть (to grow or become white) · pl zblednąć (to grow or become white) · fr blanchir (to make white) · pl płowić (to make white) · pl spłowieć (to grow or become white) · nl blancheren (to cook by dipping briefly into boiling water, then directly into cold water) · ru бланширова́ть (to cook by dipping briefly into boiling water, then directly into cold water) · es empalidecer (to grow or become white) · nb bleke (to make white) · pl blaknąć (to grow or become white) · no blekne (to grow or become white) · es lividecer (to grow or become white) · de erbleichen (to grow or become white) · es blanquear (to make white) · es emblanquecer (to make white) · fi kaltata (to cook by dipping briefly into boiling water, then directly into cold water) · es emblanquecerse (to grow or become white) · bg бланширам (to cook by dipping briefly into boiling water, then directly into cold water) · sv blekna (to grow or become white) · es armiñar (to make white) · ru побели́ть (to make white) · nl witten (to make white) · cmn(to cook by dipping briefly into boiling water, then directly into cold water) · pl zblaknąć (to grow or become white) · ga bánaigh (to grow or become white)

blanch en · VERB · etymology 2

Pronunciation

  • /blænt͡ʃ/
  • /blɑːnt͡ʃ/
  • (Southern-England) audio
  • (Southern-England) audio
  • (US) audio

Etymology

Variant of blench, of same Proto-Indo-European origin.

Meanings

  1. To avoid, as from fear; to evade; to leave unnoticed.
    • I suppose you will not blanch Paris in your way. 1624-39, Sir Henry Wotton, Reliquiæ Wottonianæ (published 1651), page 343
    • Ifs and ands to qualify words of treason; whereby every man might express his malice, and blanch his danger. 1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, →OCLC:
  2. To cause to turn aside or back.
    • to blanch a deer
  3. To use evasion.
    • Books will speak plain, when counsellors blanch. 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Counsel”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
blanches Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
blanching Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
blanched Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
blanched Tense=Past lexicographic