To whiten is to make white in general, but commonly it means to overspread with white coloring-matter. Bleach and blanch both signify to whiten by depriving of color, the former permanently, as linen; the latter either permanently (as, to blanch celery) or temporarily (as, to blanch the cheek with fear). To whitewash is to whiten superficially, especially by false approval.
Antonyms:
| blacken, | color, | darken, | dye, | soil, | stain. |
BLEMISH.
Synonyms:
| blot, | defacement, | disgrace, | injury, | spot, |
| blur, | defect, | dishonor, | reproach, | stain, |
| brand, | deformity, | fault, | smirch, | stigma, |
| crack, | dent, | flaw, | soil, | taint, |
| daub, | disfigurement, | imperfection, | speck, | tarnish. |
Whatever mars the beauty or completeness of an object is a blemish, whether original, as squinting eyes, or the result of accident or disease, etc., as the pits of smallpox. A blemish is superficial; a flaw or taint is in structure or substance. In the moral[83] sense, we speak of a blot or stain upon reputation; a flaw or taint in character. A defect is the want or lack of something; fault, primarily a failing, is something that fails of an apparent intent or disappoints a natural expectation; thus a sudden dislocation or displacement of geological strata is called a fault. Figuratively, a blemish comes from one's own ill-doing; a brand or stigma is inflicted by others; as, the brand of infamy.