brine

American  

[brahyn] / braɪn /

noun

• brines
  plural

1. water saturated or strongly impregnated with salt.

2. a salt and water solution for pickling.

3. the sea or ocean.

4. the water of the sea.

5. Chemistry. any saline solution.

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verb (used with object)

• brines,
  present (3rd person singular)
• brined,
  past participle,  past
• brining
  present participle

1. to treat with or steep in brine.

brine British  

/ braɪn /

noun

1. a strong solution of salt and water, used for salting and pickling meats, etc

2. the sea or its water

3. chem

   1. a concentrated solution of sodium chloride in water

   2. any solution of a salt in water

      a potassium chloride brine

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verb

1. (tr) to soak in or treat with brine

brine Scientific  

/ brīn /

1. Water saturated with or containing large amounts of a salt, especially sodium chloride. The high salt content is usually due to evaporation or freezing.

2. The water of a sea or ocean.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• briner
  noun
• brinishness
  noun
• brineless
  adjective
• brinish
  adjective
• unbrined
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• brines
  plural

Participles

• brining
  present
• brined
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• brine
  simple
• brines
  simple
• have brined
  perfect
• has brined
  perfect
• am brining
  progressive
• are brining
  progressive
• is brining
  progressive
• have been brining
  perfect progressive
• has been brining
  perfect progressive

Past

• brined
  simple
• had brined
  perfect
• was brining
  progressive
• were brining
  progressive
• had been brining
  perfect progressive

Future

• will brine
  simple
• will have brined
  perfect
• will be brining
  progressive
• will have been brining
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of brine

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English brȳne; cognate with Dutch brijn

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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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

brine brines brined brining

Savory cocktails have become de rigueur in recent years, and if we’re willing to sip olive or oyster brine, why not try some broth in your drink?

From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026

"We do not know if these magnesium organic compounds were contributed by brine chemistry or were simply left over from earlier impact shock processes."

From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026

Smaller briskets take three to four days to brine, while larger cuts can take one week.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

“Fish market gone bad, brine and blood. The melon sweetness of curdling bacteria. Urine, too, hot, tacky.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

“After we harvest the plankton, the brine is evaporated and the salt is processed for sale. These are the highest salt mountains in the world. People come from all over to admire them.”

From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer

It also removed magnesium, one of the most common contaminants in lithium brines, through a chemical precipitation step that separates the unwanted material.

From Science Daily ● May 23, 2026

To make that happen with turkey, the RedFarm team brines the bird 24 hours in advance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 24, 2025

The kind of pickles you use also matters, as some brines lean more sweeter, while others are saltier.

From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2025

But he notes that this initial lab-based demonstration works with a synthetic brine that differs from the chemically complex brines in the real world.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 27, 2024

As this mixture of substances naturally suggested the composition of the "mother liquors" from salt brines, Mr. Price made an analysis of such a sample of "bittern" from the Snow Hill furnace, Kanawha Co.,

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 643, April 28, 1888 by Various

The chicken is brought in whole before being butchered and brined in-house.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026

Even when the tomatoes are gone and the bread stall is picked clean, you can usually find some jar of something sharp, spicy and brined: giardiniera, hot peppers, spicy dills, pickled carrots.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

Eaton uses a carefully sourced heritage breed bird that’s brined, deboned and served in butter for $35.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

In the Sammamish Ballroom, you can choose from a buffet spread including brined turkey breast, prime rib and plenty of sides of desserts.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 15, 2023

There was roast duck and sweet, brined pork and tender, spiced lamb.

From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo

If the batteries are too damaged for that to be done, crews will discharge them through brining, during which they are submerged in a water-and-salt solution.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2025

The Sportsound team are already on air building up to kick off in Amsterdam, before brining you full live commentary.

From BBC ● Mar. 22, 2024

“We took him out of the game as soon as he was brining it up to the trainers and coaches,” Baldelli said.

From Washington Times ● Sep. 30, 2023

In the deal, JPMorgan acquired 84 First Republic branches, brining it $92 billion in deposits and $203 billion in loans and other securities.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 14, 2023

To be honest, there was another reason I chose the brining and grilling method.

From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan

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