bruise

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Dallisa lowered her hand from her face, where a bruise was already darkening Miellyn has twice appeared when I was with him.

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Definitions (24)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (9)

  1. transitive verb To injure the underlying soft tissue or bone of (part of the body) without breaking the skin, as by a blow.
  2. transitive verb To damage (plant tissue), as by abrasion or pressure: bruised the fruit by careless packing.
  3. transitive verb To dent or mar.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (7)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (5)

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Examples (50)

  • Two ribs were broken with the impact, and the bruise was as ugly as any a grown man could suffer. —  FSF, August 2006
  • Fortunately the horse recovered its footing, and she was able to get safely away from her pursuer; but the bruise was a serious one (though she thought little of it at the time), and many years later she came to the conclusion that this was the probable origin of her illness. —  The Romance of Isabel Lady Burton Volume II
  • The custodial parent should take a picture of the bruise, write down the visit time, and where the bruise is. —  BellaOnline - The Voice of Women
  • He says that the bruise was not created by the edge of a counter or a fist, as he holds up his fist, showing the jury that the fist has knuckles and would not create a circle. —  Cincinnati Local News Headlines | WCPO.com
  • It's not like a bruise, where a few exta days would help a lot. —  Blog a Bull
 

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This word has been looked up 101 times.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

wound ·  scar ·  gash ·  scratch ·  contusion ·  ache ·  bump ·  welt ·  stain ·  burn ·  scrape ·  headache

Used in the same contextWord Family

bruise:   bruising ·  bruises ·  bruised
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English bruisen, from Old English brȳsan, to crush, and from Old North French bruisier (of Germanic origin).

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. The spelling bruise is due to Old French bruiser (see below); early modern English bruse, bruze, from Middle English broosen, brosen, brusen, also brousen, broysen, more frequently brysen, brisen, bresen, also brissen, bressen, break, bruise; partly from Anglo-Saxon brycsan, break, bruise (to which all the Middle English forms except broosen, brosen, brousen, broysen could be referred; but the reg. modern representative of Anglo-Saxon brycsan would be brize or *breeze: see brise); partly from Old French bruser, broser, bruiser, bruisier, brisier, briser, French briser, break (to which all the Middle English forms could be referred). Cf. briss, brise, breeze, brazil. It is not certain that the Anglo-Saxon form is related to the F. form; the origin of both is unknown. Cf. Gaelic Irish bris, break.
  2. from bruise, v.
 

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/bruz/
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