Crossword Genius

Take bleached hat and wave (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

whitecap

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'wave' is the definition.
(I know that whitecap is a type of wave)

'take bleached hat' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'hat' could be 'cap' (cap is a type of hat) and 'cap' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'white' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'and' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for whitecap that I've seen before include "A mountain" , "American vigilante" , "Redstart" , "has one wave" , "Crested wave" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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