white: Meaning and Definition of

white

Pronunciation: (hwīt, wīt), [key]
— adj., n., v., whit•er, whit•est, whit•ed, whit•ing.
—adj.
  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) marked by slight pigmentation of the skin, as of many Caucasoids.
  4. for, limited to, or predominantly made up of persons whose racial heritage is Caucasian: a white club; 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. composed entirely of polished steel plates without fabric or other covering; alwite.
  12. wearing white clothing: a white monk.
  13. decent, honorable, or dependable: That's very 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. (of coffee) containing milk.
  19. to be or cause to be deprived of all one's resources: Dishonesty is bleeding the union white.
—n.
  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.
  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 whose racial heritage is Caucasian.
  6. a white material or substance.
  7. the white part of something.
  8. 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.
    1. white or nearly white clothing.
    2. top-grade white flour.
  10. white wine: Graves is a good white.
  11. a type or breed that is white in color.
  12. Usually,a blank space in printing.
  13. (cap.) a hog of any of several breeds having a white coat, as a Chester White.
  14. any of several white-winged butterflies of the family Pieridae, as the common cabbage butterflies.
  15. white fabric.
    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.
  16. the men or pieces that are light-colored.
  17. (often cap.) a member of a royalist, conservative, or reactionary political party.
  18. in an unfinished state or condition, as furniture wood that has not been stained or varnished.
—v.t.
    1. to make white by leaving blank spaces (often fol. by out).
    2. to whiten (areas of artwork) in retouching preparatory to photoengraving (often fol. by out).
  1. to make white; whiten.
    1. to cover (errors in copy) with a white correction fluid.
    2. to censor, as by obliterating words or passages with white ink.

White

Pronunciation: (hwīt, wīt), [key]
  1. (“Whizzer”), born 1917, U.S. lawyer and jurist: associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court 1962–93.
  2. born 1940, U.S. novelist.
  3. 1845–1921, U.S. jurist: Chief Justice of the U.S. 1910–21.
  4. 1930–67, U.S. astronaut: first American to walk in space 1965.
  5. 1899–1985, U.S. humorist and poet.
  6. 1838–95, U.S. choral conductor.
  7. 1720–93, English clergyman, naturalist, and writer.
  8. 1912–90, Australian writer, born in England: Nobel prize 1973.
  9. 1853–1906, U.S. architect.
  10. 1873–1946, U.S. novelist.
  11. 1896–1964, English novelist.
  12. 1915–86, U.S. journalist and writer.
  13. 1893–1955, U.S. civil-rights leader and writer: executive secretary of the NAACP 1931–55.
  14. 1870–1937, U.S. neurologist, psychiatrist, and writer.
  15. 1868–1944, U.S. journalist.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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