piu3 baak6漂白
Jyutpingpiu3 baak6
Yalepiu baahk
Definition
To bleach; to whiten or lighten something using chemical substances.
neutraldaily actionsother
How it's used
Beyond the literal chemical process, this term is frequently used metaphorically in Hong Kong to describe the act of laundering money or cleaning up one's reputation. It carries a sense of removing stains or negative associations to make something appear clean or legitimate. When referring to the substance itself, people almost always add 水 to form 漂白水.
Examples
The shirt is dirty, it needs to be bleached.
Have you bleached the shirt with bleach yet?
Related words
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with 洗白, which is exclusively used for the metaphorical sense of clearing one's name or reputation, whereas 漂白 can be both literal and metaphorical.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- Aspect markersCantonese has no tenses, but it does have aspect markers. Learn how zo2, gwo3, gan2, and hai2 dou6 show completion, experience, and ongoing action.
- In 30 secondsThe whole language at a glance. No tenses, no plurals, six tones, sentence particles. Read this before you dive into any specific topic.
- ParticlesSentence particles add tone, emotion, and nuance. Learn the most common particles in Cantonese and how to use them.
