v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blanched p. pr. & vb. n. Blanching. ] [ OE. blanchen, blaunchen, F. blanchir, fr. blanc white. See Blank, a. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To take the color out of, and make white; to bleach; as, to blanch linen; age has blanched his hair. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Gardening) To bleach by excluding the light, as the stalks or leaves of plants, by earthing them up or tying them together. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Confectionery & Cookery) (a) To make white by removing the skin of, as by scalding; as, to blanch almonds. (b) To whiten, as the surface of meat, by plunging into boiling water and afterwards into cold, so as to harden the surface and retain the juices. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To give a white luster to (silver, before stamping, in the process of coining.). [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To cover (sheet iron) with a coating of tin. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Fig.: To whiten; to give a favorable appearance to; to whitewash; to palliate. [ 1913 Webster ]

Blanch over the blackest and most absurd things. Tillotson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To Blanch, Whiten. To whiten is the generic term, denoting, to render white; as, to whiten the walls of a room. Usually (though not of necessity) this is supposed to be done by placing some white coloring matter in or upon the surface of the object in question. To blanch is to whiten by the removal of coloring matter; as, to blanch linen. So the cheek is blanched by fear, i. e., by the withdrawal of the blood, which leaves it white. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To grow or become white; as, his cheek blanched with fear; the rose blanches in the sun. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Bones ] blanching on the grass. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ See Blench. ] 1. To avoid, as from fear; to evade; to leave unnoticed. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Ifs and ands to qualify the words of treason, whereby every man might express his malice and blanch his danger. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

I suppose you will not blanch Paris in your way. Reliq. Wot. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To cause to turn aside or back; as, to blanch a deer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To use evasion. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Books will speak plain, when counselors blanch. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Mining) Ore, not in masses, but mixed with other minerals. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ After Thomas Blanchard, American inventor. ] (Mach.) A kind of wood-turning lathe for making noncircular and irregular forms, as felloes, gun stocks, lasts, spokes, etc., after a given pattern. The pattern and work rotate on parallel spindles in the same direction with the same speed, and the work is shaped by a rapidly rotating cutter whose position is varied by the pattern acting as a cam upon a follower wheel traversing slowly along the pattern. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. One who, or that which, blanches or whitens; esp., one who anneals and cleanses money; also, a chemical preparation for this purpose. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, frightens away or turns aside. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

And Gynecia, a blancher, which kept the dearest deer from her. Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

And so even now hath he divers blanchers belonging to the market, to let and stop the light of the gospel. Latimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Scots Law) A mode of tenure by the payment of a small duty in white rent (silver) or otherwise. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ 1st blanch + -meter. ] An instrument for measuring the bleaching power of chloride of lime and potash; a chlorometer. Ure. [ 1913 Webster ]