Dictionary
bleach'ing pow"der
Chem.
a white powder that decomposes on contact with water and has the characteristic odor of gaseous chlorine: regarded, when dry, as a mixed calcium hypochlorite-chloride, used as a commercial bleach for wood pulp, textiles, oils, and soaps, and in laundering as a decolorizer and disinfectant. Also called
chloride of lime, chlorinated lime, calcium oxychloride. Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.