blanchir

A verb with a wide fan of senses: literally to whiten or bleach something, to turn white/grey (hair, in the sense of aging), in cooking to blanch vegetables briefly in boiling water, and figuratively both to launder money (blanchir de l'argent) and to clear someone's name (blanchir quelqu'un d'une accusation).

• Ses cheveux ont blanchi très tôt. — His hair turned grey/white very early.
• Il faut blanchir les haricots avant de les congeler. — You need to blanch the beans before freezing them.
• Le tribunal l'a blanchi de toute accusation. — The court cleared him of all charges.

The 'to launder money' sense (blanchir de l'argent) is specific and won't be misread, but learners sometimes miss the exonerate sense — être blanchi means to be cleared/exonerated, not literally 'whitened.'

• expression "Blanchir sous le harnais" — A 17th-century idiom meaning to grow old/experienced in one's job, popularized by Corneille's Le Cid — blanchir refers to hair turning white/grey over years of service.
• expression Blanchiment d'argent — The standard French term for money laundering, in wide use since the 1970s Watergate era — the popular story that it originates from Al Capone's laundromats is a well-documented myth, since the term only emerged decades after his death.