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Webster 1913 Edition

Bruise

Bruise

(brṳz)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Bruised
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Bruising
.]
[OE.
brusen
,
brisen
,
brosen
,
bresen
, AS.
br[GREEK]san
or fr. OF.
bruiser
,
bruisier
,
bruser
, to break, shiver, perh. from OHG.
brochisōn
. Cf.
Break
,
Verb.
T.
]
1.
To injure, as by a blow or collision, without laceration; to contuse;
as, to
bruise
one’s finger with a hammer; to
bruise
the bark of a tree with a stone; to
bruise
an apple by letting it fall
.
2.
To break; as in a mortar; to bray, as minerals, roots, etc.; to crush.
Nor
bruise
her flowerets with the armed hoofs.
Shakespeare
Syn. – To pulverize; bray; triturate; pound; contuse.

Bruise

,
Verb.
I.
To fight with the fists; to box.
Bruising
was considered a fine, manly, old English custom.
Thackeray.

Bruise

,
Noun.
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;
as, a
bruise
on the head;
bruises
on fruit
.
From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and
bruises
.
Isa. i. 6.

Webster 1828 Edition

Bruise

BRUISE

,
Verb.
T.
s as z. To crush by beating or pounding with an instrument not edged or pointed. When applied to animal flesh or to vegetables, a bruise is a contusion that impairs the natural solidity and texture of the part, but often without breaking the skin. When applied to minerals and similar substances, it signifies to break them, and often to reduce them to a coarse powder.

BRUISE

,
Noun.
A contusion; a hurt upon the flesh of animals, upon plants or other bodies, with a blunt or heavy instrument.

Definition 2024

bruise

bruise

English

Alternative forms

Verb

bruise ‎(third-person singular simple present bruises, present participle bruising, simple past and past participle bruised)

  1. (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.
  2. (transitive) To damage the skin of (fruit), in an analogous way.
  3. (intransitive) Of fruit, to gain bruises through being handled roughly.
    Bananas bruise easily.
  4. (intransitive) To become bruised.
    I bruise easily.
  5. (intransitive) To fight with the fists; to box.
    • Thackeray
      Bruising was considered a fine, manly, old English custom.

Derived terms

Translations

A bruise (def. 1) caused by a handrail
A bruise (def. 2) on a quince

Noun

bruise ‎(plural bruises)

  1. (medicine) A purplish mark on the skin due to leakage of blood from capillaries under the surface that have been damaged by a blow.
  2. A dark mark on fruit caused by a blow to its surface.

Synonyms

Translations

Anagrams

Dutch

Verb

bruise

  1. (archaic) singular present subjunctive of bruisen

Irish

Noun

bruise f sg

  1. inflection of bruis ‎(“brush; pubic hair”):

    Mutation

    Irish mutation
    Radical Lenition Eclipsis
    bruise bhruise mbruise
    Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
    possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

    References

    Etymology

    From Middle English bruisen, brusen, brosen, brisen, bresen, from a merger of Old English brȳsan, brīesan ‎(“to bruise; crush”), from Proto-Germanic *brausijaną, *brūsijaną ‎(“to break; crumble; crack”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrews- ‎(“to break”), which provided the current sense of the word; and Anglo-Norman bruiser, bruser ‎(“to break, smash, shatter”), from Gaulish [Term?] (compare Old Irish brúu ‎(“I shatter, smash”)), from Proto-Celtic *bruseti ‎(“to break”), from the same PIE root, which provided the form.

    Cognate with Scots brizz, German brausen ‎(“to roar; boom; pound”), Old English brosnian ‎(“to crumble, fall apart”), Dutch broos ‎(“brittle”), German Brosame ‎(“crumb”), dialectal Norwegian brøysk ‎(“breakable”), Latin frustum ‎(“bit, scrap”), Old Church Slavonic бръснути ‎(brŭsnuti, “to rake”), Albanian breshër ‎(“hail”).

    Pronunciation

    • (UK, US) enPR: bro͞oz, IPA(key): /bɹuːz/
    • Homophone: brews
    • Rhymes: -uːz

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