white

¹

[ wahyt, hwahyt ]

adjective

, whit·er, whit·est.

1. of the color of pure snow, of the margins of this page, etc.; reflecting nearly all the rays of sunlight or a similar light.
2. light or comparatively light in color.
3. (of human beings) belonging to a group marked by slight pigmentation of the skin, often of European descent.
4. for, limited to, or predominantly made up of white people:

   a white neighborhood.

5. pallid or pale, as from fear or other strong emotion:

   white with rage.

6. silvery, gray, or hoary:

   white hair.

7. snowy:

   a white Christmas.

8. lacking color; transparent.
9. (politically) ultraconservative.
10. blank, as an unoccupied space in printed matter:

    Fill in the white space below.

11. Also called al·wite [awl, -wahyt]. Armor. composed entirely of polished steel plates without fabric or other covering.
12. wearing white clothing:

    a white monk.

13. Older Use: Offensive. decent, honorable, or dependable:

    That's mighty white of you.

14. auspicious or fortunate.
15. morally pure; innocent.
16. without malice; harmless:

    white magic.

17. (of wines) light-colored or yellowish, as opposed to red.
18. refined or processed, as flour.
19. British. (of coffee) containing milk.

noun

1. a color without hue at one extreme end of the scale of grays, opposite to black. A white surface reflects light of all hues completely and diffusely. Most so-called whites are very light grays: fresh snow, for example, reflects about 80 percent of the incident light, but to be strictly white, snow would have to reflect 100 percent of the incident light. It is the ultimate limit of a series of shades of any color. Compare black ( def 19 ).
2. a hue completely desaturated by admixture with white, the highest value possible.
3. quality or state of being white.
4. lightness of skin pigment.
5. a person with light-colored skin, often of European descent.
6. a white material or substance.
7. the white part of something.
8. Biology. a pellucid viscous fluid that surrounds the yolk of an egg; albumen.
9. the white part of the eyeball:

   He has a speck in the white of his eye.

10. whites,
    1. white or nearly white clothing, as in tennis whites
    2. top-grade white flour.
11. white wine:

    Graves is a good white.

12. a type or breed that is white in color.
13. Usually whites. a blank space in printing.
14. White. a hog of any of several breeds having a white coat, as a Chester White.
15. Entomology. any of several white-winged butterflies of the family Pieridae, as the common cabbage butterflies.
16. white fabric.
17. Archery.
    1. the outermost ring of the butt.
    2. an arrow that hits this portion of the butt.
    3. the central part of the butt or target, formerly painted white but now painted gold or yellow.
    4. Archaic. a target painted white.
18. Chess, Checkers. the men or pieces that are light-colored.
19. Often White. a member of a royalist, conservative, or reactionary political party.

verb (used with object)

, whit·ed, whit·ing.

1. Printing.
   1. to make white by leaving blank spaces (often followed by out ).
   2. to whiten (areas of artwork) in retouching preparatory to photoengraving (often followed by out ).
2. Archaic. to make white; whiten.

verb phrase

1. 1. to cover (errors in copy) with a white correction fluid.
   2. to censor, as by obliterating words or passages with white ink.

White

²

[ wahyt, hwahyt ]

noun

1. Andrew Dickson, 1832–1918, U.S. diplomat and pioneer of land-grant education.
2. Byron R(aymond) Whizzer, 1917–2002, U.S. lawyer and jurist: associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court 1962–93.
3. Edmund, born 1940, U.S. novelist.
4. Edward Douglass, 1845–1921, U.S. jurist: chief justice of the U.S. 1910–21.
5. Edward H(ig·gins), II [hig, -inz], 1930–67, U.S. astronaut: first American to walk in space 1965.
6. E(l·wyn) B(rooks) [el, -win], 1899–1985, U.S. humorist and poet.
7. George Leonard, 1838–95, U.S. choral conductor.
8. Gilbert, 1720–93, English clergyman, naturalist, and writer.
9. Patrick (Victor Mar·tin·dale) [mahr, -tn-deyl], 1912–90, Australian writer, born in England: Nobel Prize 1973.
10. Stanford, 1853–1906, U.S. architect.
11. Stewart Edward, 1873–1946, U.S. novelist.
12. T(erence) H(an·bur·y) [han, -b, uh, -ree], 1896–1964, English novelist.
13. Theodore H., 1915–86, U.S. journalist and writer.
14. Walter Francis, 1893–1955, U.S. civil rights leader and writer: executive secretary of the NAACP 1931–55.
15. William A(l·an·son) [al, -, uh, n-s, uh, n], 1870–1937, U.S. neurologist, psychiatrist, and writer.
16. William Allen, 1868–1944, U.S. journalist.

white

¹

/ waɪt /

adjective

1. See black
   having no hue due to the reflection of all or almost all incident light Compare black
2. (of light, such as sunlight) consisting of all the colours of the spectrum or produced by certain mixtures of three additive primary colours, such as red, green, and blue
3. comparatively white or whitish-grey in colour or having parts of this colour

   white clover

4. (of an animal) having pale-coloured or white skin, fur, or feathers
5. bloodless or pale, as from pain, emotion, etc
6. (of hair, a beard, etc) silvery or grey, usually from age
7. benevolent or without malicious intent

   white magic

8. colourless or transparent

   white glass

9. capped with or accompanied by snow

   a white Christmas

10. See Red
    sometimes capital counterrevolutionary, very conservative, or royalist Compare Red
11. blank, as an unprinted area of a page
12. (of wine) made from pale grapes or from black grapes separated from their skins
13. 1. (of coffee or tea) with milk or cream
    2. (of bread) made with white flour
14. physics having or characterized by a continuous distribution of energy, wavelength, or frequency

    white noise

15. informal.
    honourable or generous
16. (of armour) made completely of iron or steel (esp in the phrase white harness )
17. rare.
    morally unblemished
18. rare.
    (of times, seasons, etc) auspicious; favourable
19. poetic.
    having a fair complexion; blond
20. bleed white
    bleed white to deprive slowly of resources
21. whiter than white
    whiter than white
    1. extremely clean and white
    2. very pure, honest, and moral

noun

1. a white colour
2. the condition or quality of being white; whiteness
3. the white or lightly coloured part or area of something
4. the white
   the white the viscous fluid that surrounds the yolk of a bird's egg, esp a hen's egg; albumen
5. anatomy the white part (sclera) of the eyeball
6. See cabbage white, small white, large white
   any of various butterflies of the family Pieridae See large white small white cabbage white
7. chess draughts
   1. a white or light-coloured piece or square
   2. usually capital the player playing with such pieces
8. anything that has or is characterized by a white colour, such as a white paint or pigment, a white cloth, a white ball in billiards
9. an unprinted area of a page
10. archery
    1. the outer ring of the target, having the lowest score
    2. a shot or arrow hitting this ring
11. poetic.
    fairness of complexion
12. in the white
    in the white (of wood or furniture) left unpainted or unvarnished

verb

1. usually foll by out to create or leave white spaces in (printed or other matter)
2. obsolete.
   to make or become white

White

²

/ waɪt /

noun

1. a person, esp one of European ancestry, from a human population having light pigmentation of the skin

adjective

1. denoting or relating to a White person or White people

White

³

/ waɪt /

noun

1. WhiteGilbert17201793MEnglishRELIGION: clergymanSCIENCE: naturalist Gilbert. 1720–93, English clergyman and naturalist, noted for his Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne (1789)
2. WhiteJimmy1962MBritishSPORT AND GAMES: snooker player Jimmy. born 1962, English snooker player
3. WhiteMarco Pierre1961MBritishCOOKERY: chef Marco Pierre. born 1961, British chef and restaurateur
4. WhitePatrick (Victor Martindale)19121990MAustralianWRITING: novelist Patrick ( Victor Martindale ). 1912–90, Australian novelist: his works include Voss (1957), The Eye of the Storm (1973), and A Fringe of Leaves (1976): Nobel prize for literature 1973
5. WhiteT(erence) H(anbury)19061964MBritishWRITING: novelist T ( erence ) H ( anbury ). 1906–64, British novelist: author of the Arthurian sequence The Once and Future King (1939–58)
6. WhiteWillard (Wentworth)1946MBritishMUSIC: operatic bass Willard ( Wentworth ) (ˈwɪlɑːd). born 1946, British operatic bass, born in Jamaica

Derived Forms

• ˈwhiteness, noun
• ˈwhitely, adverb
• ˈwhitish, adjective

Other Words From

• half-white adjective
• un·white adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of white¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English whit(e), Old English hwīt; cognate with German weiss, Old Norse hvītr, Gothic hweits; akin to wheat

Word History and Origins

Origin of white¹

Old English hwīt; related to Old Frisian hwīt, Old Saxon hwīt, Old Norse hvītr, Gothic hveits, Old High German hwīz (German weiss )

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. bleed white, Informal. to be or cause to be deprived of all one's resources:

   Dishonesty is bleeding the union white.

2. in the white, in an unfinished state or condition, as furniture wood that has not been stained or varnished.
3. white around the gills. gill ¹( def 6 ).

More idioms and phrases containing white

• black and white
• bleed someone white
• great white hope
• show the white feather

Example Sentences

The breakdown of the 114th Congress is 80 percent white, 80 percent male, and 92 percent Christian.

From The Daily Beast

If Congress accurately reflected our nation on the basis of race, about 63 percent would be white, not 80 percent.

From The Daily Beast

There were rumors of shrieks and flashes emanating from the well, and reports of a figure in white.

From The Daily Beast

The FBI raided his home in 2000 with an affidavit questioning his use of $200,000 from his white supremacist fundraising.

From The Daily Beast

But after winning 55 percent of the white vote, Duke had a database of supporters some politicians coveted.

From The Daily Beast

And she would be wearing some of the jewels with the white dress—just a few, not many, of course.

From Project Gutenberg

None other would dare to show herself unveiled to a stranger, and a white man at that.

From Project Gutenberg

One would not have wanted her white neck a mite less full or her beautiful arms more slender.

From Project Gutenberg

That evening in the gondola, with one old and two newer friends, is marked with a white stone in my recollection.

From Project Gutenberg

Why not have sought out the pure white lime-rocks of the flat country, or the grey granite of the hills?

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• alabaster
• milky
• porcelain
• snowy