Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To injure the underlying soft tissue or bone of (part of the body) without breaking the skin, as by a blow.
- v. To damage (plant tissue), as by abrasion or pressure: bruised the fruit by careless packing.
- v. To dent or mar.
- v. To pound (berries, for example) into fragments; crush.
- v. To hurt, especially psychologically.
- v. To experience or undergo bruising: Peaches bruise easily.
- n. An injury to underlying tissues or bone in which the skin is not broken, often characterized by ruptured blood vessels and discolorations.
- n. A similar injury to plant tissue, often resulting in discoloration or spoilage.
- n. An injury, especially to one's feelings.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To injure by a blow or by pressure without laceration; contuse, as a pliant substance; dent or beat in without breaking, as anything hard: as, to bruise the hand; a bruised apple; “his bruised shield,”
- To crush by beating or pounding; pound; bray, as drugs or articles of food.
- Figuratively, to beat down or oppress; cudgel, as the brain; scourge; damage.
- To fight with the fists; box.
- n. A contusion; a superficial injury caused by impact, without laceration, as of an animal body, a plant, or other impressible object.
Wiktionary
- v. transitive To strike (a person), originally with something flat or heavy, but now specifically in such a way as to discolour the skin without breaking it.
- v. transitive To damage the skin of (fruit), in an analogous way.
- v. intransitive Of fruit, to gain bruises through being handled roughly.
- v. intransitive, medicine To bruise easily.
- n. medicine A purplish mark on the skin due to leakage of blood from capillaries under the surface that have been damaged by a blow.
- n. A dark mark on fruit caused by a blow to its surface.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To injure, as by a blow or collision, without laceration; to contuse.
- v. To break; as in a mortar; to bray, as minerals, roots, etc.; to crush.
- v. To fight with the fists; to box.
- n. An injury to the flesh of animals, or to plants, fruit, etc., with a blunt or heavy instrument, or by collision with some other body; a contusion.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an injury that doesn't break the skin but results in some discoloration
- v. injure the underlying soft tissue or bone of
- v. break up into small pieces for food preparation
- v. damage (plant tissue) by abrasion or pressure
- v. hurt the feelings of
Etymologies
- From Middle English bruisen, brusen, from Anglo-Norman bruiser, bruser ‘to break, smash’, from Gaulish *brusu (compare Old Irish brúu ‘I shatter, smash’), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreus- ‘to break’ (compare Latin frustum ‘bit, scrap’, Old Church Slavic бръснути (brŭsnuti) ‘to rake’, Albanian breshër ‘hail’). Replaced early modern English brise (compare Scots brizz), from Middle English brisen, bresen, from Old English brȳsan, briesan ‘to crush’, from Proto-Germanic *brausijanan, causative from the same PIE root. Cognate with Old English brosnian ("to crumble, fall apart"), Dutch broos ("brittle"), German Brosame ("crumb"), Norwegian dialect brøysk ("breakable"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English bruisen, from Old English brȳsan, to crush, and from Old North French bruisier (of Germanic origin). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The entire bruise is the size of a tea cup saucer; the outer part is turning brown already.”
“The bruise is fading but still visible under his right eye and he's not covering it up, not even off the basketball court.”
The Wall Street Journal: Knick Tries to Reclaim A More Physical Game
“On concussions alone, a reader at deadspin. com [1] compiled the following list of players who have borne the brunt of a brain bruise in 2010:”
The Huffington Post: Dave Zirin: In the NFL, The Violence Comes to a Head
“First, mediagenic skier Lindsey Vonn suggested a shin bruise would keep her from competing.”
“Their advice on how to take care of the bruise is constructive and shows that they care, I liked that.”
“When I took my bird this spring, it was the first time I didn't have that tell-tale bruise from the 3.5 inch load.”
“A bruise is just a collection of blood under your skin that leaks out through tiny damaged blood vessels.”
Science Question from a Toddler: Why is poop brown? Boing Boing
“If a day without a bruise is wasted, then today must be a banner day.”
The real offence, as she ultimately perceived, was her having a mind of her own at all.
“My arm still twangs funny from where Nardo beat me with the pastry tongs (the bruise is gone, but the tendons are still soft), so that makes me even doubly butch.”
“Notes: Cavaliers rookie G Shannon Brown hasn't been playing - or practicing - because of a deep shin bruise he sustained when he was accidentally kicked in practice.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘bruise’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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RELI - Genesis
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copper, anvil, oblique, thrust, shrine, welfare, farewell, bitter, faction, sectarian, tangible, spectacle and 134 more...
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Give Blood. Save a Life
Words related to blood and blood donation
needle, whole blood, plasma, red blood cells, platelets, apheresis, blood type, blood pressure, hematocrit, cmv negative, fingerstick, centrifuge and 30 more...
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exasperate, felony, weld, fraud, worksheet, ransom, rehearse, preliminary, offshore, parole, infamous, sieve and 436 more...
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eesome
Includes any intangible conceivable independently of Hom. Sap.
depthless, overspire, unsteady, thitherward, rile, munchable, covet, pastinaceous, mirtle, slonk, tink, inerrarable and 345 more...
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colleen's words ii
sibilant, sundry, spindle, distaff, device, mortar, pestle, scythe, flail, thresh, frown, elementary and 495 more...
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elizacole's Words
isomorphic, endemic, tmesis, fillip, antedate, avoirdupois, jeremiad, hypnagogic, antediluvian, fuck, reification, raconteur and 251 more...
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luckylime's Words
cacophony, cascade, trigger, crunch, vellum paper, arduous, luminescent, voluminous, euphoric, bucolic, diaphanous, danger and 162 more...
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kingrat47's Words
procrustean, devolution, cacophony, hippopotamus, crunch, beware, chortled, sibilant, subtle, undermine, acromegaly, acropolis and 645 more...
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The "dark" things
grave, dead, death, die, died, dies, murder, murdered, murderer, murders, murdering, murderous and 115 more...
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ash
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abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
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eekshecried's Words
quirk, bloom, blur, smudge, cousin, erstwhile, specious, gloriole, tender vittles, incarnata, stigmata, phosphorescent and 19 more...
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OM2 Lesson 13
unexpected, downtown, window, beg, rollerblade, knee, knee pad, helmet, bunch, skate, bruise, fit and 11 more...
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The Gloaming
dragging, burnt, desert, wind, skywalk, doorway, bundle, beard, tired, bittersweet, flux, party and 55 more...
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simply splendid
gloaming, wend, antediluvian, hobnob, defenestrate, star, autumn, vintage, memory, obliged, candlelight, lovely and 36 more...
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