The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word BLEACH
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
B
L
E
A
C
H
More clues leading to the result BLEACH
- It whitens stretch of shore round front of lake
- Make pale student enter lido
- A chemical that’s partly unstable, a chloride
- Leading lady in seafront but it won’t get her a tan
- Humble achievement has to fade
- Make pale ale somehow in British church
- To lighten, quarter of load’s dumped in sand
- Turn white left in place where you’d usually do the opposite
- Book extract to make light of?
- Lighten lingerie originally in maroon
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "It whitens" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case it whitens = bleach.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does BLEACH mean?
BLEACH adjective- Pale; bleak.
- A chemical, such as sodium hypochlorite or hydrogen peroxide, or a preparation of such a chemical, used for disinfecting or whitening.
- A variety of bleach.
- To treat with bleach, especially so as to whiten (fabric, paper, etc.) or lighten (hair).
- To be whitened or lightened (by the sun, for example).
- (of corals) to lose color due to stress-induced expulsion of symbiotic unicellular algae.
- To make meaningless; to divest of meaning; to make empty.
- An act of bleaching; exposure to the sun.
- A disease of the skin.