Word Meanings - STAIN - Book Publishers vocabulary database
1. To discolor by the application of foreign matter; to make foul; to spot; as, to stain the hand with dye; armor stained with blood. 2. To color, as wood, glass, paper, cloth, or the like, by processess affecting, chemically or otherwise, the
Additional info about word: STAIN
1. To discolor by the application of foreign matter; to make foul; to spot; as, to stain the hand with dye; armor stained with blood. 2. 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. 3. To spot with guilt or infamy; to bring reproach on; to blot; to soil; to tarnish. Of honor void, Of innocence, of faith, of purity, Our wonted ornaments now soiled and stained. Milton. 4. To cause to seem inferior or soiled by comparison. She stains the ripest virgins of her age. Beau. & Fl. That did all other beasts in beauty stain. Spenser. Stained glass, glass colored or stained by certain metallic pigments fused into its substance, -- often used for making ornament windows. Syn. -- To paint; dye; blot; soil; sully; discolor; disgrace; taint. -- Paint, Stain, Dye. These denote three different processes; the first mechanical, the other two, chiefly chemical. To paint a thing is so spread a coat of coloring matter over it; to stain or dye a thing is to impart color to its substance. To stain is said chiefly of solids, as wood, glass, paper; to dye, of fibrous substances, textile fabrics, etc.; the one, commonly, a simple process, as applying a wash; the other more complex, as fixing colors by mordants.
Possible synonyms: (Same meaning words of STAIN)
- Bedaub
- Bespatter
- befoul
- discolor
- mar
- disfigure
- deface
- besmear
- spoil
- soil
- stain
- Blemish
- Spot
- blur
- blot
- flaw
- speck
- fault
- imperfection
- daub
- tarnish
- defacement
- discoloration
- disfigurement
- disgrace
- dishonor
- defect
- Blot Obscure
- sully
- spot
- pollute
- obliterate
- erase
- blotch
- smear
- smutch
- Discolor
- Daub
- taint
- dis
- figure
- Imbue
- Tinge
- dye
- impregnate
- inoculate
- ingrain
- affect
- infect
Possible antonyms: (opposite words of STAIN)
Related words: (words related to STAIN)
- BLOTCH
A large pustule, or a coarse eruption. Foul scurf and blotches him defile. Thomson. (more info) black, as bleach is akin to bleak. See Black, a., or cf. Blot a 1. A blot or spot, as of color or of ink; especially a large or irregular spot. Also - BESMEAR
To smear with any viscous, glutinous matter; to bedaub; to soil. Besmeared with precious balm. Spenser. - DECORATE
To deck with that which is becoming, ornamental, or honorary; to adorn; to beautify; to embellish; as, to decorate the person; to decorate an edifice; to decorate a lawn with flowers; to decorate the mind with moral beauties; to decorate a hero - HONORABLE
1. Worthy of honor; fit to be esteemed or regarded; estimable; illustrious. Thy name and honorable family. Shak. 2. High-minded; actuated by principles of honor, or a scrupulous regard to probity, rectitude, or reputation. 3. Proceeding from an - OBSCURENESS
Obscurity. Bp. Hall. - SPECK
The blubber of whales or other marine mammals; also, the fat of the hippopotamus. Speck falls , falls or ropes rove through blocks for hoisting the blubber and bone of whales on board a whaling vessel. - FAULTINESS
Quality or state of being faulty. Round, even to faultiness. Shak. - PURIFY
1. To make pure or clear from material defilement, admixture, or imperfection; to free from extraneous or noxious matter; as, to purify liquors or metals; to purify the blood; to purify the air. 2. Hence, in figurative uses: To free from guilt - SIGNALIZE
1. To make signal or eminent; to render distinguished from what is common; to distinguish. It is this passion which drives men to all the ways we see in use of signalizing themselves. Burke. 2. To communicate with by means of a signal; as, a ship - AFFECTATIONIST
One who exhibits affectation. Fitzed. Hall. - SMEAR DAB
The sand fluke . - OBSCURER
One who, or that which, obscures. - INGRAIN
1. Dyed with grain, or kermes. 2. Dyed before manufacture, -- said of the material of a textile fabric; hence, in general, thoroughly inwrought; forming an essential part of the substance. Ingrain carpet, a double or two-ply carpet. -- - INFECTIOUSLY
In an infectious manner. Shak. - AFFECTION
Disease; morbid symptom; malady; as, a pulmonary affection. Dunglison. 7. The lively representation of any emotion. Wotton. 8. Affectation. "Spruce affection." Shak. 9. Passion; violent emotion. Most wretched man, That to affections - DEFECTIONIST
One who advocates or encourages defection. - ORNAMENTAL
Serving to ornament; characterized by ornament; beautifying; embellishing. Some think it most ornamental to wear their bracelets on their wrists; others, about their ankles. Sir T. Browne. - HONORABLENESS
1. The state of being honorable; eminence; distinction. 2. Conformity to the principles of honor, probity, or moral rectitude; fairness; uprightness; reputableness. - SMEARED
Having the color mark ings ill defined, as if rubbed; as, the smeared dagger moth . - SPECKLED-BILL
The American white-fronted goose . - CONTINGENT
Dependent for effect on something that may or may not occur; as, a contingent estate. If a contingent legacy be left to any one when he attains, or if he attains, the age of twenty-one. Blackstone. (more info) touch on all sides, to happen; con- - SUSTAIN
F. soutenir (the French prefix is properly fr. L. subtus below, fr. sub under), L. sustinere; pref. sus- + tenere to hold. See 1. To keep from falling; to bear; to uphold; to support; as, a foundation sustains the superstructure; a beast sustains - REINFECT
To infect again. - PICK-FAULT
One who seeks out faults. - OVERAFFECT
To affect or care for unduly. Milton. - MISAFFECT
To dislike. - INDEFECTIBLE
Not defectible; unfailing; not liable to defect, failure, or decay. An indefectible treasure in the heavens. Barrow. A state of indefectible virtue and happiness. S. Clarke.