bleaching ground / bleaching / pallor
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bleaching ground
A place, usually a meadow or facility, where laundry is laid out in the sun to be bleached.
Früher brachten die Frauen ihre Wäsche auf die Bleiche am Rande des Dorfes.
In the past, the women took their laundry to the bleaching ground at the edge of the village.
The noun 'die Bleiche' is derived directly from the verb 'bleichen' (to make or become lighter). The adjective 'bleich' (pale) also belongs to this word family. Understanding the verb helps you work out all the meanings of the noun.
Seine Haut hatte eine ungesunde Bleiche, weil er nie an die Sonne kam.
His skin had an unhealthy pallor because he never went out in the sun.
The three meanings can be distinguished well from context. If the word refers to a place, often with the preposition 'auf' (on), it means the meadow. If it is about a technical process, it means making something lighter. If it refers to the skin, it means paleness.
Die Wäsche lag zum Trocknen auf der Bleiche.
The laundry was lying on the bleaching ground to dry.
The meaning as a place for bleaching laundry is now more historical. You find it in old texts, in village or street names, such as 'Auf der Bleiche' (On the Bleaching Ground), or when people talk about earlier times.
Der alte Dorfplan zeigt noch die öffentliche Bleiche am Fluss.
The old village map still shows the public bleaching ground by the river.
When referring to paleness in the face, 'Bleiche' (pallor) is often combined with adjectives such as 'ungesund' (unhealthy), 'tödlich' (deathly), or 'krankhaft' (sickly) to describe the condition more precisely.
Nach der langen Krankheit hatte er eine fast tödliche Bleiche im Gesicht.
After the long illness, he had an almost deathly pallor in his face.