blanch

UK: /ˈblɑːntʃ/ US: /blæntʃ/ ,(blanch, blänch)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

blanch¹ /blæntʃ/   v. 

1. Food to boil (food) briefly, as to prepare for freezing:
   [~ + object] Blanch the vegetables in boiling water for no more than fifteen seconds.
2. to make or turn pale, as with sickness or fear: [~ + object]
   A long illness had blanched her cheeks of their natural color.
   [no object]
   He blanched at the news.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

blanch¹  (blanch, blänch), v.t. 

1. to whiten by removing color;
   bleach:
   Workers were blanching linen in the sun.
2. Food [Cookery.]
   • 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.
3. [Hort.] (of the stems or leaves of plants, as celery or lettuce) to whiten or prevent from becoming green by excluding light.
4. Metallurgy
   • to give a white luster to (metals), as by means of acids.
   • to coat (sheet metal) with tin.
5. to make pale, as with sickness or fear:
   The long illness had blanched her cheeks of their natural color.

v.i. 

6. to become white;
   turn pale:
   The very thought of going made him blanch.

• Anglo-French, Middle French blanchir to whiten, derivative of blanc, blanche white; see blank
• Middle English bla(u)nchen 1300–50

blanch′er, n. 
Synonyms

• 1. See whiten. 

blanch²  (blanch, blänch), v.t. 

1. to force back or to one side;
   head off, as a deer or other quarry.

• variant of blench¹ 1565–75

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

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
3. to plunge tomatoes, nuts, etc, into boiling water to loosen the skin
4. 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
5. to cause (celery, chicory, etc) to grow free of chlorophyll by the exclusion of sunlight

Etymology: 14th Century: from Old French blanchir from blanc white; see blank