bleaching 
bleaching (ble'ehing), H. [Verbal n. of bltarli 1 . } 
Tho art or process of freeing textile fibers and 
fabrics, and various other substances (such as 
materials for paper, ivory, wax, oils), from 
their natural color, and rendering them white, 
or nearly so. The ancient method of blenching by 
exposing to the action of the suns rays, ami fivqui'iit 
wettlnx, li:i^ In i-ii nearly superseded, :it 1' ast where the 
business Is prosecuted on a large scale, by more compli- 
cated processes in connection with powerful chemical 
preparations. Animitf these preparations, the chief are 
chlorin ami sulphurous acid, the latter being employed 
more especially in tlie case of animal nbers(silk and wool), 
while cotton, tiav. ami other vegetable fibers are operated 
upon with chlorin, the bleaching i" both cases being pre- 
mini by certain cleansing processes. Glass is bleached 
by the use of chemical agents, usually braunite, saltpeter, 
arscnious acid, and minium or red lead. 
bleaching-liquid (ble'ching-lik'wid), n. A 
liquid for bleaching; specifically, blanching- 
liquor. 
bleaching-powder (ble'ching-pou"der), n. A 
powder made by exposing slatted lime to the 
action of chlorin ; chlorid of lime, it may be 
regarded as a mixture of slaked lime and a double salt of 
calcium chlorid and calcium hypochlorite. It is the prin- 
cipal agent used in bleaching textile fabrics, and is also a 
powerful disinfectant. 
bleak 1 (blek), a. [Also assibilated bleach 
(obs.), dial, bltike, q.v. ; < ME. bleke (assibilated 
bleche) (also bleike, prob. due to Icel.), earlier 
blake, blak (i.e., blak, different from bldk, black, 
though to some extent Confused with it), pale, 
wan, < AS. bloc (var. bUeo, whence prob. ult. E. 
bleach 1 , a., q. v.), pale, wan, also bright, shining 
(= OS. blek, pale, shining, = D. bleek = MLG. 
blek, LG. blek = OHG. bleih, MHG. G. bleich = 
Icel. bleikr = Sw. blek = Dan. bleg, pale, wan), < 
Wean (pret. bide, pp. bliceji), shine, = OS. blikan 
= OFries. blika, shine, = D. blijken (pret. bleek), 
appear, = Icel. blikja, blika, shine, = OHG. blih- 
han, shine (MHG. blican, G. bleichett, grow pale, 
mixed with weak verb bleichen, bleach: see 
bleach 1 , v.), akin to Skt. / bhraj, shine, and 
perhaps to Gr. <j>"Aiyuv, burn, blaze, ^A<5f, flame, 
Li.flamma, flame, fulgere, shine, etc. : see flame, 
fulgent, phlegm, phlox, etc. Related E. words 
are blank, blink, bleach 1 , perhaps hind:, and 
bright 1 .] If. Pale ; pallid ; wan ; of a sickly hue. 
With a face dedly, bleyk, and pale. Lydgate. 
She looked as pale and as ble.uk as one laid out dead. 
Foxe, Martyrs (Agnes Wardall). 
2. Exposed to cold and winds ; desolate ; bare 
of vegetation. 
Say, will ye bless the bleak Atlantic shore? 
Pope, Cho. to Brutus. 
Wastes too bleak to rear the common growth of earth. 
Wordsworth. 
It Is rich land, but upon a clay, and in a very bleak, 
high, exposed situation. Qray, Letters, I. 268. 
8. Cheerless; dreary. 
Her desolation presents us with nothing but bleak and 
barren prospects. Addison. 
4. Cold; chill; piercing; desolating. 
Entreat the north 
To make his bleak winds kiss my parched lips. 
Shak., K. John, v. 7. 
The night was bleak ; the rain fell ; the wind roared. 
Macaulay, Hist Eng., ix. 
bleakH, [< bleak 1 , a.; var. of bleach 1 .] I. 
trans. To make white or pale ; bleach. 
H. intrans. To become white or pale. 
bleak 2 (blek), n. [Early mod. E. bleke, dial. 
blick; = Icel. bleikja = OHG. bleicha, MHG. 
blicke; from the adj. bleak (Icel. bleikr, OHG. 
bleih), from the pale color of its scales (see 
bleak 1 ). The synonymous term blay 1 , < AS. 
bliege = D. blei = G. bleihe, is not directly con- 
nected with Weafc 2 .] An English name of a 
small cyprinoid fish, Albttrnus lucidus. Other 
forms of the name are blrik. blick. Also called 
blay. 
bleak 3 !, r. t. [Var. of bleach* and black, v.] 
To blacken ; darken. Cotgrave. 
bleakish (ble'kish), a. [< bleak 1 + -ish 1 .] 
Moderately bleak; somewhat bleak. 
A northerly or bleakish easterly wind. 
Dr. O. Cheyne, Ess. on Health. 
bleakly (blek'li), adv. In a bleak manner or 
situation: as, the wind howls bleakly. 
Neere the sea-coast they bleakely seated are. 
May, tr. of Lucan, iv 
bleakness (blek'nes), n. [< Meak 1 + -nets.] 
The quality of being bleak; coldness; desola- 
tion: as, "the bleakness of the air," Addison. 
The landscape will lose its melancholy bleakness and 
acquire a beauty of its own. 
Haicthorne, Twice-Told Tales, II. 
bleaky (ble'ki), a. [Extended form of blenk 1 ,!!.] 
Bleak; open; unsheltered; cold; chill. [Rare.] 
The bleaht top of rugged hills. 
Drydrn, tr. of Virgil's Oeorgics, 111. 
There seems a hideous fault blazed in the object. 
taster, v. 1. 
583 
blear 1 (bier), v. [< ME. bleren, make dim or 
rheumy, in reference to the eyes, esp. iu the 
phrase blear one's eyes, i. e., deceive, hood- 
wink one; rarely intrans., blink; cf. Dan. 
Wire, also plire, blink, = 8w. plira, dial, blira, 
and blura, blink (cf. dial, olirra fair augu, 
quiver before the eyes, of summer heat), = 
LG. jil n nil, /ill/an, jil'fn (also bleer- in bleer- 
oged = E. blear-eyed, q. v.), blink; cf. G. dial. 
blerr, an ailment of the eyes.] I. trans. 1. To 
affect (the eyes) with flowing tears or rheum 
so that the sight is dimmed and indistinct; 
make rheumy and dim: as, "blered her eyes," 
Piers Plowman. 
To his bleared and offended sense, 
' it blazed in the ' 
B. Jonton, Poei 
Tease the lungs and blear the sight. Cowper, Task, iu. 
2. To blur, as the face with weeping ; obscure ; 
obfuscate. 
Stern faces bleared with immemorial watch. 
Lowell, Cathedral. 
To blear one's eyest, figuratively, to deceive; hood- 
wink; blind. 
They wenen that no man may hem blgile, 
But by my thrift, yet shal I blere her eye. 
Chaucer, Reeve's Tale, 1. 129. 
Entlsing dames my patience still did prone, 
And blear'd mine eye*. 
Oaseoigne, The Fruits of Fetters. 
Il.t intrans. To have bleared or inflamed 
eyes ; be blear-eyed. 
blear 1 (bier), a. and n. [Not an orig. adj., but 
assumed from blear-eyed, where blear is directly 
from the verb. See blear-eyed.] I. < . 1 . Sore 
or dim from a watery discharge or other super- 
ficial affection : applied only to the eyes. 
A wit that can make your perfections so transparent, 
that every Uear eye may look through them. 
B. Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, Iv. 1. 
Half blind he peered at me through his blear eyes. 
Layard, Nineveh and Babylon, i. 
2. Producing dimness of vision; blinding. 
[Obsolete or poetical.] 
Power to cheat the eye with blear illusion. 
Milton, Comus, 1. 166. 
3. Dim; indistinct; confused in outlines. 
[Rare.] 
II. " Something that obscures the sight. 
[Scotch.] 
Nor is the blear drawn easy o'er her e'e. 
.1 . Bon, Heleuore, p. 91. 
blear 2 ! (bier), v. [< ME. bleren; origin ob- 
scure.] I. trans. To thrust (out); protrude: 
with out. 
[They] stood staring and gaping upon Him, wagging 
their heads, writhing their mouths, yea blearing out their 
tongues. /'V. Andrewt, Sermons, ii. 173. 
H. in iranx. To thrust out the tongue in mock- 
ery. 
He baltyrde, he bleryde, he braundyschte ther-after. 
Morte Arthure (E. E. T. S.X 1. 782. 
blearedness (bler'ed-nes), . [< bleared, pp. 
of blear 1 , + -ness.] The state of being bleared 
or blurred with rheum. Holland. 
blear-eye (bler'i), w. [Rather from blear-eyed, 
a., than from blear 1 , a., + eye. Cf. LG. bleer-oge, 
pliir-oge. blear-eye, from the adj. See blear- 
eyed.] In null., a disease of the eyelids, con- 
sisting in chronic inflammation of the margins, 
with a gummy secretion from the Meibomian 
glands; lippitude. Also called blear-eyedness. 
blear-eyed (bler'id), a. [< ME. blereyed, bler- 
eighed, etc., < bleren, blear, + eye, eighe, eye; 
cf. Dan. plir-ojet = LG. bleer-oged, also pliir- 
oged, blear-eyed, of similar formation. Cf . also 
LG. blarr-oged, with noun blarr-oge, due to con- 
fusion with blarren, cry, howl, weep, = G. War- 
ren, bkrren, usually pfa'rren, roar, bellow, = E. 
blare 1 ; but there is no etymological connection. 
See blear 1 .] 1. Having sore eyes ; having tho 
eyes dimmed or inflamed by flowing tears or 
rheum; dim-sighted. 
Crook-back'd he was, tooth-shaken, and ttrar^y'd. 
SackMle, Ind. to Mir. for Mags. 
2. Wanting in perception or understanding; 
short-sighted. 
blear-eyedness (bler'id-nes), n. Same as bltar- 
i-i/r. 
bleariness (bler'i-nes), n. [< bleary + -ness.] 
Blearedness. 
blearnesst (bler'nes), n. [< blear 1 , a., + -ness.] 
The state of being blear. Udall, Mark x. 
blear-witted (bler'wit'ed), a. Dull ; stupid. 
They were very blear-witted, i' faith, that could not dis- 
cern the gentleman in him. 
B. Junton, Every Man out of his Humour, v. 2. 
bleed 
bleary 1 (bler'i), a. [< blearl + -y 1 .] 1. Bleared ; 
rheumy ; dim : as, bleary red eyes. 2. Blurred ; 
confused; cloudy; misty. 
(>h give me hack my native hills, 
If bleak or bleary, grim or gray. 
Cumbtrland Ballad. 
bleary 2 , n. See bleery. 
bleat (blet), v. i. [< ME. bleten, < AS. blStan 
= D. blaten, bleeten = MLG. LG. bleten = OHG. 
M<i:an, MHG. bldzen, G. dial, blassen, blatzen, 
bleat ; cf. G. bloken, bleat, bellow (see balk?, 
bolk), L. balare, bleat (see balant), Gr. <>'/- 
Xaafat, bleat, jfaixjli Dor. /ftaxci, a bleating : all 
perhaps ult. of imitative origin, like baa, q. v.] 
To cry as a sheep, goat, or calf ; also, as a snipe. 
Then suddenly was heard along the main 
To low the ox, to Meat the woolly train. 
Pope, Odyttey, ill. 
bleat (blet), . [< bleat, v.] The cry of a 
sheep, goat, or calf; also, of a snipe. 
The bleat of Hocks, the breath of flowers. 
Mnir, Harebell 
And got a calf . . . 
Much like to you, for you have just his bleat. 
Shak., Much Ado, v. 4. 
bleater (ble'ter), . An animal that bleats; 
specifically, a sheep. 
In cold, stiff soils the blratfr* oft complain 
Of gouty alls. John Dyer, Fleece, L 
bleauntt, n. [ME., also written bleeaunt, ble- 
hand, bliand, blihand ; =MLG. 6/tanf (with term, 
varied from orig. )= MHG. blialt, bliat,<OF. 
bliaut, bliaud, bliat, earlier blialt (mod. F. dial. 
Mn mil.; biaude: see blouse) = Pr. iilml, bliau, 
bliaut, blizaut = Sp. Pg. lirinl : ML. blialdus, 
bliaudus, blisaudus, a kind of tunic ; origin un- 
known.] A garment common to both sexes 
in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth cen- 
turies. As wom by women, it was a tunic placed over 
the chemise, usually with long and loose sleeves, and held 
by a girdle, except perhaps when a garment was worn 
above it. That for men was worn as an outer garment 
and especially over the armor, in which case it is hard 
to distinguish it from the tabard, which afterward re- 
placed it. For mounted men it was divided nearly to the 
girdle, to enable the rider to sit in the saddle. 
A blewe bleaunt obofe brade him al ovir. 
King Alisaunder, p. 167. 
Blysnande whyt wata hyr bleaunt. 
Alliterative Poenu (ed. .Morris), i. 163. 
bleb (bleb), n. [Another form of blob, q. v.] 
1. A blister or pustule. 2. A bubble, as in 
water or other fluid, or in a substance that has 
been fluid, as glass. 
Arsenic abounds with air bleb. Kirwan. 
blebby (bleb'i), a. [< bleb + -y 1 .] Full of 
blebs, blisters, or bubbles. 
[Mcionite] fuses ... to a white blebby glass. 
Dana, System of Mineral. (1868), p. SIS. 
bleek (blek), n. [Also (in def. 1) assibilated 
bletch; < ME. blek, bleke, appar. < AS. bltec (= 
Icel. blek = Sw. black = Dan. fetefc, ink), prop, 
neut. of the adj. bla;c, black: see lilm-l.-. n.] 1. 
Any black fluid substance, as black ink, black- 
ing for leather, or black grease. 2. Soot; 
smut. 3f. A black man. 4. A local English 
name of the coalfish, Pollachius rirens. 
[Now only prov. Eng. or Scotch.] 
bleckbok (bleVbok), . Same as bleekbok. 
bled (bled). Preterit and past participle of 
bleed. 
bleet (ble), n. [< ME. Wee, 6te, Weo, < AS. bleoh, 
blioh, usually contr. bled, blid, color, hue, com- 
plexion, = OS. bli = OFries. bit, blie, North 
Fries, blay, color.] Color; hue; complexion. 
Thou art bryght of Nee. Kylamour, L 833. 
I have a lemman 
As bright of Nee as is the silver moon. 
Greene, George-a-Green. 
White of Nee with waiting for me 
Is the corse in the next chambere. 
Mrs. Brotrniny, Romaunt of the Page. 
bleed (bled), r. ; pret. and pp. bled, ppr. bleed- 
ing. [< ME. bleden, < AS. bledan. bleed (= 
OFries. bleda = D. Woerfeii = LG. bidden = 
OHG. bluotan, MHG. G. bluten, = Icel. blttdha 
= Sw. bloda = Dan. blade), < blod, blood : see 
blood, and cf. bless 1 .] I. intrans. 1. To void or 
emit blood; drop, or run with, blood: as, the 
wound bled profusely ; his nose bleeds. 
Many npon the seeing of others Need . . . themselves 
are ready to faint, as if they bled. Bacon. 
2. Figuratively, to feel pity, sorrow, or an- 
guish; be filled with sympathy or grief: with 
for: as, my heart bleeds for him. 
Take your own will ; my very heart bleeds for thee. 
Fletcher (and another). Queen of i'orillth, iL $. 
I bleed inwardly for my lord. Shak., T. of A., L t. 
3f. To come to light: in allusion to the old 
superstitious belief that the body of a murdered 
