(hwīt) adjective whit·er, whit·est
1. Having the color produced by reflection of all the rays of the solar spectrum, as from a finely powdered surface; having the color of new snow: opposed to black.
2. Light or comparatively light in color; specifically, light-colored as opposed to red: white wine.
3. Bloodless; ashen: white with rage.
4. Very fair; blond.
5. Silvery, hoary, or gray, as with age.
6. Covered with snow; snowy.
7. Made of silver; also unburnished, as silverwork.
8. Habited in white clothing: white nuns.
9. Not intentionally wicked or evil; not malicious or harmful: a white lie.
10. Figuratively, free from spot or stain; innocent: a white soul.
11. Incandescent; being at white heat.
12. Blank; unmarked by ink: said of a space in an advertisement or the like.
13. Belonging to a racial group characterized by light-colored skin; especially, Caucasian.
14. Of, pertaining to, or controlled by white men: the white power structure.
15. Colloq. Fair and honorable; straightforward; honest.
16. Propitious; auspicious: a rare meaning.
17. In certain European countries, constitutional; conservative, as a party; opposed to the radicals or revolutionaries. See synonyms under PALE².
—noun
1. That color seen when sunlight is reflected without sensible absorption of any of the visible rays of the spectrum; the color in the scale of grays which is entirely without hue and is the opposite of black.
2. The state or condition of being white; whiteness; figuratively, innocence; truth.
3. The white or light-colored part of something; specifically, the albumen of an egg, or the white part of the eyeball.
4. Anything that is white or nearly white, as cloth or garments; in the plural, a white uniform or outfit: The sailor wore his summer whites.
5. White wine.
6. A white paint or pigment; hence, by comparison, a color approaching pure white in its effect.
7. In chess or checkers, the white or light men, or the player who has them.
8. plural Flour made from the finest and whitest part of the wheat.
9. plural Printing Blank spaces in a picture, plate, mold, etc.
10. In archery, the outermost ring of a target; also, a hit on that ring, scoring one point.
11. A member of the so-called white race.
12. In some European countries, a member of a party opposed to the radicals or revolutionaries; a conservative.
13. plural Pathol. Leukorrhea.
14. A breed of animal, especially a swine, that is white in color.
—v.t. whit·ed, whit·ing
1. To make white; whiten; bleach.
2. Printing To make or leave blank spaces in, as between lines or about an illustration: often with out: to white out a column. [OE hwīt]

(hwīt), Andrew,
1832–1918, U.S. educator, historian, and diplomat.
—Byron Raymond,
born 1917, U.S. lawyer; associate justice of the Supreme Court 1962–.
—E(lwyn) B(rooks),
born 1899, U.S. writer and editor.
—Gilbert,
1720–93, English naturalist and antiquary.
—Peregrine,
1620–1704, first child of English parentage born in New England.
—Stanford,
1853–1906, U.S. architect.
—William Allen,
1868–1944, U.S. editor.