brine
Americannoun
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water saturated or strongly impregnated with salt.
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a salt and water solution for pickling.
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the sea or ocean.
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the water of the sea.
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Chemistry. any saline solution.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a strong solution of salt and water, used for salting and pickling meats, etc
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the sea or its water
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chem
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a concentrated solution of sodium chloride in water
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any solution of a salt in water
a potassium chloride brine
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verb
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Water saturated with or containing large amounts of a salt, especially sodium chloride. The high salt content is usually due to evaporation or freezing.
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The water of a sea or ocean.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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brinesimple
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brinessimple
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have brinedperfect
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has brinedperfect
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am briningprogressive
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are briningprogressive
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is briningprogressive
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have been briningperfect progressive
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has been briningperfect progressive
Past
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brinedsimple
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had brinedperfect
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was briningprogressive
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were briningprogressive
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had been briningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of brine
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English brȳne; cognate with Dutch brijn
Explanation
Water that contains salt is called brine. You can always tell when you are close to the ocean, because you can smell the brine and hear the sea gulls. Brine is also a salty solution used to pickle or preserve foods. If you want to make pickles, you have to soak cucumbers in brine for several days or even weeks before canning them. As a verb, brine means to soak in a salty solution. If you live in the southern United States, you might brine watermelon rind and okra, which may sound strange to someone from Michigan's Upper Peninsula who's more familiar with brining eggs.
Vocabulary lists containing brine
Something's Fishy: A Fresh Catch of Aquatic Words
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The Tempest
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Brine is one of those flavors that’s easier to recognize than define.
From Salon • Jun. 9, 2026
One welcome visitor was Hollywood movie star Jim Carrey who unexpectedly visited the studio made famous by The Beatles while Brine was working with Oasis.
From BBC • Jun. 14, 2025
Insurance companies are “getting less coverage for a higher cost, which is very similar to what a lot of consumers are seeing as well,” said Kenton Brine, president of the Northwest Insurance Council.
From Seattle Times • May 24, 2024
The fire also damaged a vacant restaurant that used to be Ruby’s Diner and a snack shop that housed the Brine Box, a seafood eatery.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 26, 2024
Mr. Mahony, the landowner, drove to Blackwater to meet us, and from there took us to Loch Brine, where the fish were plentiful.
From Forty Years of 'Spy' by Ward, Leslie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
