Stain
[steɪn] or [sten]
Definition
(noun.) a soiled or discolored appearance; 'the wine left a dark stain'.
(noun.) (microscopy) a dye or other coloring material that is used in microscopy to make structures visible.
(verb.) color for microscopic study; 'The laboratory worker dyed the specimen'.
(verb.) color with a liquid dye or tint; 'Stain this table a beautiful walnut color'; 'people knew how to stain glass a beautiful blue in the middle ages'.
(verb.) produce or leave stains; 'Red wine stains the table cloth'.
Editor: Marilyn--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To discolor by the application of foreign matter; to make foul; to spot; as, to stain the hand with dye; armor stained with blood.
(v. t.) To color, as wood, glass, paper, cloth, or the like, by processess affecting, chemically or otherwise, the material itself; to tinge with a color or colors combining with, or penetrating, the substance; to dye; as, to stain wood with acids, colored washes, paint rubbed in, etc.; to stain glass.
(v. t.) To spot with guilt or infamy; to bring reproach on; to blot; to soil; to tarnish.
(v. t.) To cause to seem inferior or soiled by comparison.
(v. i.) To give or receive a stain; to grow dim.
(n.) A discoloration by foreign matter; a spot; as, a stain on a garment or cloth.
(n.) A natural spot of a color different from the gound.
(n.) Taint of guilt; tarnish; disgrace; reproach.
(n.) Cause of reproach; shame.
(n.) A tincture; a tinge.
Checker: Tessie
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Soil, sully, contaminate, tarnish, spot, blot, blemish, discolor.[2]. Dye, tinge, color.[3]. Disgrace, pollute, corrupt, defile, dishonor, debase, deprave, contaminate, taint.
n. [1]. Blemish, tarnish, spot, blot, imperfection.[2]. Disgrace, dishonor, contamination, taint.
Typist: Melba
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Color, dye, tinge, discoloration, blemish, blot, stigma, slur, shame, taint,{[See ~]?}
SYN:Dye, color, tinge, slur, shame, paint, blot, soil, sully, discolor, tarnish,taint, disgrace, dishonor, befoul, blemish, stigmatize
ANT:Purify, wash, cleanse, absolve, ornament, decorate, emblazon, signalize, honor
Inputed by Joe
Definition
v.t. to tinge or colour: to give a different colour to: to impregnate as a tissue with some substance whose reaction colours some parts but not others thus making form or structure plainly visible: to dye: to mark with guilt or infamy: to bring reproach on: to sully: to tarnish.—v.i. to take or impart a stain.—n. a discoloration: a spot: taint of guilt: cause of reproach: shame.—n. Stain′er one who stains or blots: a dyer.—adj. Stain′less without or free from stain.—adv. Stain′lessly.—n. Stain′lessness.—Stained glass glass painted with certain pigments fused into its surface.
Typist: Nora
Unserious Contents or Definition
To see stain on your hands, or clothing, while dreaming, foretells that trouble over small matters will assail you. To see a stain on the garments of others, or on their flesh, foretells that some person will betray you.
Checker: Wilbur
Examples
- Gentlemen all, observe the dark stain upon this gentleman's hat, no wider than a shilling, but thicker than a half-crown. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- The worms have eaten the cloth a good deal--there's the stain which Sir Pitt--ha! William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- After leaving Miss Rachel's room, I stopped a moment on one of the landings, by myself, to see if I had got the paint-stain by any chance on MY gown. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- Venn flushed through his stain. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- The other half, however, attracted my attention at once by its singular freedom from stain or impurity of any kind. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- With a darkening face my friend strode along the margin, eagerly observant of every muddy stain upon the mossy surface. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- This is a very deep and natural stain. William K. David. Secrets of Wise Men, Chemists and Great Physicians.
- There were the chemical corner and the acid-stained, deal-topped table. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- You observed that her right glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- What good man will ever come again under my roof if I let my floor be stained with a good man's blood! Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- As he held out his hand to Holmes, I perceived that it was also stained with yellow nicotine. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- I cannot call to mind where or when, in my childhood, I had seen a stained glass window in a church. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- I shuddered at the thought that for anything I knew, his hand might be stained with blood. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- I can hold them crumpled up in my hand, so no one will know how stained they are. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- The blood-stains were very slight, mere smears and discolourations, but undoubtedly fresh. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- The blood-stains in the room and also on the stick are very slight. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- I presume, as I see blood-stains upon it, that it is the one which was found in the dead man's grasp. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- Wine-stains, fruit-stains, beer-stains, water-stains, paint-stains, pitch-stains, mud-stains, blood-stains! Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- Paint stains are best removed by the application of gasoline followed by soap and water. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Here, its power was only a glare: a stifling, sickly glare, serving but to bring forward stains and dirt that might otherwise have slept. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- That's clear enough, for the stains lie above each other--if you lay it over this way. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- By strange stern ways, and through much staining blood, those feet had come to meet that water. Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- One of the most important and lucrative industrial processes of the world to-day is that of staining and dyeing. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
Typed by Ann