Definition of 'white'

Word Frequency

white

(hwaɪt )

Word forms: comparative whiter , superlative whitest , plural whites

1. colour

Something that is white is the colour of snow or milk.

He had nice square white teeth.

Issa's white beach hat gleamed in the harsh lights.

He was dressed in white from head to toe.

whiteness uncountable noun

Her scarlet lipstick emphasized the whiteness of her teeth. [+ of]

2. to bleed someone white

3. adjective

A White person has a pale skin and belongs to a race which is of European origin.

Working with White people hasn't been a problem for me or for them.

He was White, with brown shoulder-length hair and a moustache.

Whites are White people.

...a building that once housed a school for Whites.

4. adjective [usually verb-link ADJECTIVE]

If someone goes white, the skin on their face becomes very pale, for example because of fear, shock, anger, or illness.

Richard had gone very white, but he stood his ground.

He turned white and began to stammer.

His face was white with fury. [+ with]

See white as a sheet

5. adjective

White wine is pale yellow in colour.

Gregory poured another glass of white wine and went back to his bedroom.

You can refer to white wine as white.

I bought a bottle of Californian white.

6. adjective

White coffee has had milk or cream added to it.

[British]

Wayne has a large white coffee in front of him.

7. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun]

White blood cells are the cells in your blood which your body uses to fight infection.

8. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun]

People who believe in white magic believe it is possible to use magic to do good things.

...practitioners of white magic.

They claim to be white witches.

9. variable noun

The white of an egg is the transparent liquid that surrounds the yellow part called the yolk.

10. countable noun

The white of someone's eye is the white part that surrounds the coloured part called the iris.

11. plural noun

Whites are white clothes that you wear for playing some sports, for example tennis or cricket.

[British]

There was a Frenchman sitting at the next table, immaculate in tennis whites.

More Synonyms of white

Video: pronunciation of
white

white in British English

(waɪt )

adjective

having no hue due to the reflection of all or almost all incident light

Compare black (sense 1)

(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

comparatively white or whitish-grey in colour or having parts of this colour

white clover

(of an animal) having pale-coloured or white skin, fur, or feathers

bloodless or pale, as from pain, emotion, etc

(of hair, a beard, etc) silvery or grey, usually from age

benevolent or without malicious intent

white magic

colourless or transparent

white glass

capped with or accompanied by snow

a white Christmas

10. (sometimes capital)

counterrevolutionary, very conservative, or royalist

Compare Red (sense 2)

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.

(of coffee or tea) with milk or cream

(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 or archaic

having a fair complexion; blond

20. See bleed white

21. See whiter than white

noun

22.

a white colour

23.

the condition or quality of being white; whiteness

24.

the white or lightly coloured part or area of something

25. See the white

26. anatomy

the white part ( sclera) of the eyeball

27.

any of various butterflies of the family Pieridae

See large white, small white, cabbage white

28. chess, draughts

a white or light-coloured piece or square

b. (usually capital)

the player playing with such pieces

29.

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

30.

an unprinted area of a page

31. archery

the outer ring of the target, having the lowest score

a shot or arrow hitting this ring

32. poetic

fairness of complexion

33. See in the white

verb

34. (usually foll by out)

to create or leave white spaces in (printed or other matter)

35. obsolete

to make or become white

Derived forms

whitely (ˈwhitely)

adverb

whiteness (ˈwhiteness)

noun

whitish (ˈwhitish)

adjective

whitishness (ˈwhitishness)

noun

Word origin

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

Word Frequency

White in British English 1

(waɪt )

noun

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

adjective

denoting or relating to a White person or White people

Word Frequency

White in British English 2

(waɪt )

noun

Gilbert. 1720–93, English clergyman and naturalist, noted for his Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne (1789)

Jimmy. born 1962, English snooker player

Marco Pierre. born 1961, British chef and restaurateur

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

T(erence) H( anbury). 1906–64, British novelist: author of the Arthurian sequence The Once and Future King (1939–58)

Sir Willard ( Wentworth) (ˈwɪlɑːd). born 1946, British operatic bass, born in Jamaica

Word Frequency

White in American English

(hwaɪt ; waɪt )

Byron R(aymond)1917-2002; U.S. jurist: associate justice, Supreme Court (1962-93)

E(lwyn) B( rooks)1899-1985; U.S. writer

Edward Douglass1845-1921; U.S. jurist: chief justice of the U.S. (1910-21)

Gilbert1720-93; Eng. naturalist & clergyman: author of The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne

Patrick (Victor Martindale)1912-90; Austral. writer

ˈ Stanford (ˈstænfərd ) 1853-1906; U.S. architect

Walter ( Francis)1893-1955; U.S. author & civil rights leader

Word Frequency

white in American English

(hwaɪt ; waɪt )

adjectiveWord forms: ˈwhiter or ˈwhitest

having the color of pure snow or milk; of the color of radiated, transmitted, or reflected light containing all of the visible rays of the spectrum; opposite to black

Examples of 'white' in a sentence
white

These examples have been automatically selected and may contain sensitive content. Read more…

One was blue and white plaid and the second was dark blue with red dots.We gasp as we see a white light appear above her shoulder then move above her heart.Wear with red lipstick and an oversized white shirt.He admitted to giving his parents premature white hair.The sea was an almost fluorescent turquoise, lapping against white beaches strewn with conch shells.It's made from birch plywood, finished in white or yellow lacquer.After just one win in his first six races for Pipe, he was beginning to look something of a white elephant. Yellow throat with white and blue spots.You want the yolk and white to be fully combined.Why should he do something that other white presidents might not?