blanch

Verb

Verb Forms: blanched, blanching, blanches

To make or become white or pale.
turn pale, as if in fear
cook (vegetables) briefly
To grow or become white.
To take the color out of, and make white; to bleach.
To cook by dipping briefly into boiling water, then directly into cold water.
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.
To bleach by excluding light, for example the stalks or leaves of plants by earthing them up or tying them together.
To make white by removing the skin of, for example by scalding.
To give a white lustre to (silver, before stamping, in the process of coining)
To cover (sheet iron) with a coating of tin.
To give a favorable appearance to; to whitewash; to whiten;
To avoid, as from fear; to evade; to leave unnoticed.
To cause to turn aside or back.
To use evasion.

Examples

Age has blanched his hair.
He would BLANCH at the sight of an opponent playing a seven-letter word through three premium squares.
His cheek blanched with fear.
The rose blanches in the sun.
to blanch almonds
to blanch linen

Origin / 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.

Synonyms

blench, pale, parboil, palliate

Scrabble Score: 13

blanch: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
blanch: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
blanch: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 16

blanch: valid Words With Friends Word