Part 687

Bleach"er*y (&?;), n.; pl. Bleacheries (&?;). A place or an establishment where bleaching is done.

Bleach"ing, n. The act or process of whitening, by removing color or stains; esp. the process of whitening fabrics by chemical agents. Ure.

Bleaching powder, a powder for bleaching, consisting of chloride of lime, or some other chemical or chemicals.

Bleak (&?;), a. [OE. blac, bleyke, bleche, AS. blc, bl&?;c, pale, wan; akin to Icel. bleikr, Sw. blek, Dan. bleg, OS. bl&?;k, D. bleek, OHG. pleih, G. bleich; all from the root of AS. blcan to shine; akin to OHG. blchen to shine; cf. L. flagrare to burn, Gr. &?; to burn, shine, Skr. bhrj to shine, and E. flame. &?;98. Cf. Bleach, Blink, Flame.] 1. Without color; pale; pallid. [Obs.]

When she came out she looked as pale and as bleak as one that were laid out dead. Foxe.

2. Desolate and exposed; swept by cold winds.

Wastes too bleak to rear The common growth of earth, the foodful ear. Wordsworth.

At daybreak, on the bleak sea beach. Longfellow.

3. Cold and cutting; cheerless; as, a bleak blast.

-- Bleak"ish, a. -- Bleak"ly, adv. -- Bleak"ness, n.

Bleak, n. [From Bleak, a., cf. Blay.] (Zoöl.) A small European river fish (Leuciscus alburnus), of the family Cyprinidæ; the blay. [Written also blick.]

The silvery pigment lining the scales of the bleak is used in the manufacture of artificial pearls. Baird.

Bleak"y (&?;), a. Bleak. [Obs.] Dryden.

Blear (&?;), a. [See Blear, v.] 1. Dim or sore with water or rheum; -- said of the eyes.

His blear eyes ran in gutters to his chin. Dryden.

2. Causing or caused by dimness of sight; dim.

Power to cheat the eye with blear illusion. Milton.

Blear, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bleared (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Blearing.] [OE. bleren; cf. Dan. plire to blink, Sw. plira to twinkle, wink, LG. plieren; perh. from the same root as E. blink. See Blink, and cf. Blur.] To make somewhat sore or watery, as the eyes; to dim, or blur, as the sight. Figuratively: To obscure (mental or moral perception); to blind; to hoodwink.

That tickling rheums Should ever tease the lungs and blear the sight. Cowper.

To blear the eye of, to deceive; to impose upon. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Bleared (&?;), a. Dimmed, as by a watery humor; affected with rheum. -- Blear"ed*ness (&?;), n.

Dardanian wives, With bleared visages, come forth to view The issue of the exploit. Shak.

Blear"eye` (&?;), n. (Med.) A disease of the eyelids, consisting in chronic inflammation of the margins, with a gummy secretion of sebaceous matter. Dunglison.

Blear"-eyed` (&?;), a. 1. Having sore eyes; having the eyes dim with rheum; dim- sighted.

The blear-eyed Crispin. Drant.

2. Lacking in perception or penetration; short- sighted; as, a blear-eyed bigot.

Blear"eyed`ness, n. The state of being blear-eyed.

Blear"y (&?;), a. Somewhat blear.