This is the 7380th most frequent Dutch word.
bleken
"Bleken" means "to bleach" or "to whiten."
Here, 'bleek' is the past tense of the verb 'blijken,' meaning 'to turn out' or 'to prove.' It indicates that something became evident.
Het bleek dat hij gelijk had.
It turned out that he was right.
In this context, 'bleken' means 'to bleach,' referring to the action of discoloring or whitening.
De kledingstukken bleken in de zon.
The clothes were bleaching in the sun.
Again, 'bleek' (past tense of 'blijken') is used to mean that something became evident or was revealed.