Definition of "stain"

stain

/steɪn/

noun
plural stains
1. A discolored spot or area caused by spillage or other contact with certain fluids or substances.
2. A blemish on one's character or reputation.
3. A substance used to soak into a surface and colour it.
  Quotations
  The wood will darken whether it is stained or not—the main function of a stain is to enhance the wood's natural color and emphasize its grain.
  1980, Robert M. Jones, editor, Walls and Ceilings, Time-Life Books, page 93
4. A reagent or dye used to stain microscope specimens so as to make some structures visible.
5. (heraldry) One of a number of non-standard tinctures used chiefly in post-medieval heraldry, especially tenné, murrey, or sanguine.
verb
third-person singular simple present stains, present participle staining, simple past and past participle stained
1. (transitive) To discolor, as by spilling or other contact with a fluid or substance.
2. To taint or tarnish someone's character or reputation
  Quotations
  of Honour void,Of Innocence, of Faith, of Puritie,Our wonted Ornaments now soild and staind
  1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873,
3. To coat a surface with a stain
4. (intransitive) To become stained; to take a stain.
5. (transitive, cytology, histology) To treat (a microscopic specimen) with a dye, especially one that dyes specific features
6. To cause to seem inferior or soiled by comparison.
  Quotations
  She stains the ripest virgins of her age.
  c. 1607–1611, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “Cupid’s Revenge”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1679, Act II, scene ii
  that did all other beasts in beauty stain
  1591, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], Daphnaïda. An Elegy upon the Death of the Noble and Vertuous Douglas Howard, […], London: […] [Thomas Orwin] for William Ponsonby, […]

Definition of "stain"

stain

noun

Quotations

verb

Quotations

Quotations