bruise
Americanverb (used with object)
-
bruises,
present (3rd person singular)
-
bruised,
past participle, past
-
bruising
present participle
-
to injure by striking or pressing, without breaking the skin.
The blow bruised his arm. Her pinching bruised the peaches.
-
to injure or hurt slightly, as with an insult or unkind remark.
to bruise a person's feelings.
-
to crush (drugs or food) by beating or pounding.
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Metalworking. to injure the surface of (an ingot or finished object) by collision.
verb (used without object)
-
bruises,
present (3rd person singular)
-
bruised,
past participle, past
-
bruising
present participle
-
to develop or bear a discolored spot on the skin as the result of a blow, fall, etc.
-
to become injured slightly.
His feelings bruise easily.
noun
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bruises
plural
verb
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(also intr) to injure (tissues) without breaking the skin, usually with discoloration, or (of tissues) to be injured in this way
-
to offend or injure (someone's feelings) by an insult, unkindness, etc
-
to damage the surface of (something), as by a blow
-
to crush (food, etc) by pounding or pressing
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
bruisesimple
-
bruisessimple
-
have bruisedperfect
-
has bruisedperfect
-
am bruisingprogressive
-
are bruisingprogressive
-
is bruisingprogressive
-
have been bruisingperfect progressive
-
has been bruisingperfect progressive
Past
-
bruisedsimple
-
had bruisedperfect
-
was bruisingprogressive
-
were bruisingprogressive
-
had been bruisingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bruise
before 900; Middle English bro ( o ) sen, bres ( s ) en, bris ( s ) en, bruisen, representing Old English brȳsan, brēsan and Anglo-French bruser, Old French bruisier, akin to briser to break; see brisance
Explanation
If you're just learning to skateboard, you’ve probably got an ugly bruise or two to show for it — those purple and yellow patches you get on your skin where you’ve bumped and scraped. They probably hurt, too! You can find bruises at the grocery store, too — those soft, mushy spots on a peach or an apple — and if you drop a tomato, you're likely to bruise it. You can bruise your knee or bruise someone's feelings — if you tell your friend you don't like her novel, you’ll bruise her ego.
Vocabulary lists containing bruise
"Abolish high school football!"
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"After Apple-Picking" by Robert Frost
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"The Astronomer"
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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.
See Examples For:
One told me they would rather the focus had been wooing younger voters by tackling the amount graduates repay in student loans, an old bruise for the Lib Dems.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
"An aggressive pacifism, obviously, but we only bruise our victims' egos," he said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026
But the images also bring back “the chirping and the beeping,” the panic and urgency, and the toe-prick tests that made Jackson bruise and “squeal” with pain.
From Slate ● Jul. 19, 2026
Thiero, who returned in the second half, said he landed on a bruise he recently sustained in practice.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2026
But his face still had a bruise on it, so Klaus remained silent.
From "The Bad Beginning" by Lemony Snicket
"The next I saw him was when I was literally underneath him and thankfully no serious damage. A couple of bumps and bruises but managed to walk away unscathed, luckily."
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
“When the consequences of a geopolitical crisis roils oil markets and bruises the bond market, it is only a matter of time before equities get hit,” Brooks of XTB added.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
When Pogacar hit the asphalt, the damage was instant: a concussion, bruises and cuts to his face and shoulder, a fractured C7 vertebrae and a broken collarbone said to require surgery.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
When people notice his plentiful bruises, Almásy makes up excuses, leading them to think he’s a klutz.
From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026
The night stained the skin under her eyes like bruises.
From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken
That’s some shaky ground on which to repair bruised friendships.
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026
With Jordan Cox keeping in place of Smith, who has a bruised finger, Robinson made the sort of start that made a two-day finish a real possibility.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
Legislators advanced bills, backed by California’s powerful trial lawyer trade group, aimed at policing the state’s legal industry, which has been bruised by ‘a wave of inappropriate attorney conduct’ highlighted by The Times.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
Salisbury was colorful: A mixed martial arts enthusiast, he once appeared at the agency’s headquarters with his face bruised and eye blackened from a recent bout.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
The part of her charged with feeling was too bruised to give or receive such gifts.
From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez
After a bruising stretch for tech stocks, investors will be looking for more than upbeat forecasts to justify valuations amid rising borrowing costs, MarketWatch’s Joe Adinolfi reports.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026
“He got hit in the back, and there were some issues there, bruising and pain, and that was a lot to have to fight through,” former Cal Poly head coach Paul Wulff said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
That, in turn, led to a flight back to government bonds, ending a bruising selloff that had driven Treasury yields to their highest levels in more than two decades.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
It's the latest chapter in a bruising year.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
Late that summer, still bruising from his failed exam, Mendel planted a crop of peas.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
