Meaning & use
blanch
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To briefly boil food, especially vegetables, then put it into cold water to stop the cooking.
Grammar: Takes an object: blanch the almonds.
Patterns
- blanch something
- blanch something in boiling water
- blanch something for a few minutes
Blanch the green beans for two minutes, then transfer them to an ice bath.
You should blanch the tomatoes to remove their skins easily.
verbintransitive
To become pale, especially from fear, shock, or illness.
Grammar: No object; often followed by 'at' or 'with': He blanched at the sight.
Patterns
- blanch at something
- blanch with fear
She blanched when she heard the terrible news.
He blanched with shock at the unexpected bill.
Word forms
| third person singular | blanches |
|---|---|
| past tense | blanched |
| past participle | blanched |
| -ing form | blanching |
Common combinations
- blanch vegetables
- Blanch the vegetables before freezing them.
- blanch almonds
- To make marzipan, you first need to blanch the almonds.
- blanch at the thought
- She blanched at the thought of speaking in public.
- blanch with fear
- He blanched with fear when he saw the snake.
Synonyms and how they differ
- pale
- To become lighter in color, often used for skin; 'blanch' is more sudden and often due to shock.
- whiten
- To make or become white; 'blanch' in cooking also implies partial cooking, not just color change.
Opposites
Word family
- blancher noun
- A person or device that blanches food.
- blanching noun
- The process of briefly boiling food.
Commonly confused: blanch or blench?
blanch vs blench
To flinch or shrink back, often from fear; 'blanch' means to turn pale or to cook briefly.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'blanch' correctly?
Choose one answer.
In the sense of becoming pale, 'blanch' is intransitive and often followed by 'at'. In cooking it is transitive, but you blanch vegetables briefly, not pasta for ten minutes, and you don't blanch a cake with chocolate.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “blanch”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.