▪ I. bleaching, vbl. n.1
(bliːtʃɪŋ)
[f. bleach v.1]
1. The art or process of whitening or cleansing by washing and exposure, or by chemical agents.
| 1552 Huloet, Bleachynge, insolatio. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iv. ii. 126 Behold what honest cloathes you send forth to bleaching. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 109 It is this oxygen..which is the really active agent in bleaching. |
† 2. A bleachery. Obs.
| 1677 A. Yarranton Engl. Improv. 135 There are..by the River Avon side, convenient places to make Bleachings. |
3. attrib. and Comb., as bleaching-croft, bleaching-field, bleaching-fluid, bleaching-ground, bleaching-liquor, bleaching powder; bleaching-clay (see quot.).
| 1818 Scott Rob Roy xxi, The large open meadow which..serves at once as a bleaching-field and pleasure-walk for the inhabitants. 1822 J. Imison Sc. & Art II. 161 The rationale of the bleaching processes. 1833 H. Martineau Vanderput & S. v. 85 In yonder bleaching ground. 1854 J. Scoffern in Orr's Circ. Sc. Chem. 422 Commercial bleaching-powder, or so-called chloride of lime. 1865 Athenæum No. 1957. 584/1 The bleaching-crofts of Lancashire. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Bleaching-clay, Kaolin, used with size, to whiten..cotton goods. |
▪ II. † ˈbleaching, (vbl.) n.2 Obs.
[f. bleach v.2]
(Shoemakers') blacking.
| c 1500 Cocke Lorelles B. 1 The currier and cobler..offred Cocke a blechynge pot. |
▪ III. ˈbleaching, ppl. a.
[f. bleach v.1 + -ing2.]
a. That bleaches or whitens: fig. cleansing, purifying. b. Becoming white from exposure.
| 1884 J. Colborne With Hicks Pasha 204 The ground..was strewn with the bleaching bones of the slain. |