Definition

1. Noun:

   • The color of pure snow or milk: "white" is the name of the achromatic color of maximum lightness, reflecting nearly all light.
   • The white part of something: This refers to the pale or colorless part of an object, such as the albumen of an egg or the sclera of the eye.
   • A person belonging to a light-skinned race: (Often capitalized) A member of a group of people characterized by light skin pigmentation.

2. Adjective:

   • Of the color white: Being of the lightest color, like snow or milk.
   • Light-skinned: Relating to or denoting a person belonging to a group characterized by light skin color.
   • Pale or colorless: Lacking color, especially from illness, fear, or other strong emotion.
   • Blank or unmarked: A surface that is free from writing, printing, or marks.
   • Pure or innocent: Free from moral blemish; unsullied.

3. Verb:

   • To turn white: To become white or whiter in color.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:

  • She painted the room a bright white.
  • Separate the white from the yolk before making the meringue.
  • The policy was criticized for favoring Whites.

• Adjective:

  • He wore a white shirt to the interview.
  • Her face went white with shock.
  • Please write your answer on the white space provided.
  • It was a white lie, told to protect her feelings.

• Verb:

  • The old fence had whited with age.

Advanced Usage

• "to bleed white": To drain someone of all their resources, especially money.
  • The endless legal fees are bleeding the company white.
• "white as a sheet/ghost": Extremely pale, typically from fear or illness.
  • When he heard the news, he went as white as a sheet.
• "white elephant": A possession that is useless or troublesome, especially one that is expensive to maintain or difficult to dispose of.
  • The old mansion became a white elephant for the city.

Variants and Related Words

• Whiten (verb): To make or become white.
  • This toothpaste claims to whiten teeth.
• Whitish (adjective): Slightly white; off-white.
  • The walls were painted a whitish gray.
• Whitewash (noun/verb): A mixture used for whitening walls; (figuratively) to conceal unpleasant facts.
  • The report was accused of whitewashing the scandal.

Synonyms

• Color: Snowy, milky, ivory, alabaster.
• Pale: Ashen, pallid, wan, pasty.
• Blank: Empty, clear, clean, unmarked.
• Pure: Immaculate, unsullied, innocent.

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• White out (verb): To cover writing or mistakes with white correction fluid; for weather conditions to reduce visibility due to snow.
  • He had to white out several errors on the form.
  • The storm whited out the mountain pass.

Related Idioms

• Wave the white flag: To show that you accept defeat and wish to stop fighting.
  • After a week of arguing, I finally waved the white flag and agreed with her plan.
• A white-knuckle ride/experience: A very frightening or exciting experience.
  • The roller coaster was a real white-knuckle ride.

Noun

1. (usually in the plural) trousers made of flannel or gabardine or tweed or white cloth
2. (board games) the lighter pieces
3. the white part of an egg; the nutritive and protective gelatinous substance surrounding the yolk consisting mainly of albumin dissolved in water
   • she separated the whites from the yolks of several eggs
4. a tributary of the Mississippi River that flows southeastward through northern Arkansas and southern Missouri
5. United States educator who in 1865 (with Ezra Cornell) founded Cornell University and served as its first president (1832-1918)
6. United States writer noted for his humorous essays (1899-1985)
7. United States architect (1853-1906)
8. United States political journalist (1915-1986)
9. Australian writer (1912-1990)
10. United States jurist appointed chief justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1910 by President Taft; noted for his work on antitrust legislation (1845-1921)
11. the quality or state of the achromatic color of greatest lightness (bearing the least resemblance to black)
12. a member of the Caucasoid race

Verb

1. turn white
   • This detergent will whiten your laundry

Adjective

1. of summer nights in northern latitudes where the sun barely sets
   • white nights
2. anemic looking from illness or emotion
   • a face turned ashen
   • the invalid's blanched cheeks
   • tried to speak with bloodless lips
   • a face livid with shock
   • lips...livid with the hue of death- Mary W. Shelley
   • lips white with terror
   • a face white with rage
3. (of hair) having lost its color
   • the white hairs of old age
4. (of coffee) having cream or milk added
5. (of a surface) not written or printed on
   • blank pages
   • fill in the blank spaces
   • a clean page
   • wide white margins
6. benevolent; without malicious intent
   • that's white of you
7. glowing white with heat
   • white flames
   • a white-hot center of the fire
8. restricted to whites only
   • under segregation there were even white restrooms and white drinking fountains
   • a lily-white movement which would expel Negroes from the organization
9. marked by the presence of snow
   • a white Christmas
   • the white hills of a northern winter
10. free from moral blemish or impurity; unsullied
    • in shining white armor
11. of or belonging to a racial group having light skin coloration
    • voting patterns within the white population
12. being of the achromatic color of maximum lightness; having little or no hue owing to reflection of almost all incident light
    • as white as fresh snow
    • a bride's white dress