blanch

1
[ blanch, blahnch ]
See synonyms for blanch on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object)
  1. to whiten by removing color; bleach: Workers were blanching linen in the sun.

  2. Cooking.

    • to scald briefly and then drain, as peaches or almonds to facilitate removal of skins, or as rice or macaroni to separate the grains or strands.

    • to scald or parboil (meat or vegetables) so as to whiten, remove the odor, prepare for cooking by other means, etc.

  1. Horticulture. (of the stems or leaves of plants, as celery or leeks) to whiten or prevent from becoming green by excluding light.

  2. Metallurgy.

    • to give a white luster to (metals), as by means of acids.

    • to coat (sheet metal) with tin.

  3. to make pale, as with sickness or fear: The long illness had blanched her cheeks of their natural color.

verb (used without object)
  1. to become white; turn pale: The very thought of going made him blanch.

Origin of blanch

1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English bla(u)nchen, from Anglo-French, Middle French blanchir “to whiten,” derivative of blanc, blanche “white”; see blank

synonym study For blanch

1. See whiten.

Other words from blanch

  • blanch·er, noun

Other definitions for blanch (2 of 2)

blanch2
[ blanch, blahnch ]

verb (used with object)
  1. to force back or to one side; head off, as a deer or other quarry.

Origin of blanch

2
First recorded in 1565–75; variant of blench1

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use blanch in a sentence

  • Whether things went equally well with Mr. Jernyngan and his Blanche (or either of his Blanches) does not seem to be recorded.

    A Letter Book | George Saintsbury

British Dictionary definitions for blanch

blanch

/ (blɑːntʃ) /


verb(mainly tr)
  1. (also intr) to remove colour from, or (of colour) to be removed; whiten; fade: the sun blanched the carpet; over the years the painting blanched

  2. (usually intr) to become or cause to become pale, as with sickness or fear

  1. to plunge tomatoes, nuts, etc, into boiling water to loosen the skin

  2. to plunge (meat, green vegetables, etc) in boiling water or bring to the boil in water in order to whiten, preserve the natural colour, or reduce or remove a bitter or salty taste

  3. to cause (celery, chicory, etc) to grow free of chlorophyll by the exclusion of sunlight

  4. metallurgy to whiten (a metal), usually by treating it with an acid or by coating it with tin

  5. (tr, usually foll by over) to attempt to conceal something

Origin of blanch

1
C14: from Old French blanchir from blanc white; see blank

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012