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# whiten

verb (whiten, whitens, whitened, whitening)

«whiten» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. To whiten something is to make it whiter or paler. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/whiten/#m1)
2. To whiten is to become white or pale, for example from fear or cold. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/whiten/#m2)

### In the lessons

In everyday life, toothpaste and washing powders claim to whiten teeth or clothes; bleach whitens. In stories, someone's face or knuckles whiten when they are afraid or gripping hard. Phrases: «whiten teeth», «whitened with fear», «knuckles whitened».

### Examples

- This toothpaste is meant to whiten teeth. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/whiten/#x1)
- Her face whitened when she heard the noise. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/whiten/#x2)
- His knuckles whitened as he held the rope. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/whiten/#x3)
- Frost whitened the grass. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/whiten/#x4)
- Bleach can whiten towels but is dangerous to touch. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/whiten/#x5)
- The sky whitened before the snow came. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/whiten/#x6)
- Then every one saw the whitened skull, and they knew the dead man in the bed was a murderer. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/whiten/#x7)

### Note

Regular verb: whitened, whitening (no doubling of n before -ed). Adjective «white» + «-en». Similar verbs: «brighten», «darken», «lighten».

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «whiten» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/whiten/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«whiten» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/whiten.html) on Mova free.