brine
Americannoun
-
brines
plural
-
water saturated or strongly impregnated with salt.
-
a salt and water solution for pickling.
-
the sea or ocean.
-
the water of the sea.
-
Chemistry. any saline solution.
verb (used with object)
-
brines,
present (3rd person singular)
-
brined,
past participle, past
-
brining
present participle
noun
-
a strong solution of salt and water, used for salting and pickling meats, etc
-
the sea or its water
-
chem
-
a concentrated solution of sodium chloride in water
-
any solution of a salt in water
a potassium chloride brine
-
verb
-
Water saturated with or containing large amounts of a salt, especially sodium chloride. The high salt content is usually due to evaporation or freezing.
-
The water of a sea or ocean.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
brinesimple
-
brinessimple
-
have brinedperfect
-
has brinedperfect
-
am briningprogressive
-
are briningprogressive
-
is briningprogressive
-
have been briningperfect progressive
-
has been briningperfect progressive
Past
-
brinedsimple
-
had brinedperfect
-
was briningprogressive
-
were briningprogressive
-
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The Tempest
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Beowulf vocabulary
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
My favorite time to visit is in late summer and fall, when migratory birds converge on the lake to feast on its abundant brine shrimp and alkali flies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
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
The reserve has experienced 16 major equipment failures since 2013, including of raw water and brine disposal piping.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
Taking a shallow breath, I drew in the scent of brine, though we were hundreds of kilometers from any ocean and the purification bath was filled with clean rainwater.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
"And there are promising lithium-rich brines, like those in California's Salton Sea, where this method simply can't be used at all."
From Science Daily ● May 23, 2026
About 40% of the world's lithium supply comes from salty underground brines located beneath desert regions.
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
They are reached by well borings, and their brines are evaporated by solar heat and by boiling.
From The Elements of Geology by William Harmon Norton
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
BJC: I thought the breast of this brined bird was juicy, plush and possessed of an ideal salt level.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 16, 2023
There was roast duck and sweet, brined pork and tender, spiced lamb.
From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo
The battery brining liquid is a hazardous waste product too and is trucked to another specialized facility, the agency said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2025
Jackie has/is both, so it’s telling that the brining method here absolutely nailed it.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 16, 2023
“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
Mr Barclay told Today he was committed to brining in Martha's rule as quickly as possible.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2023
To be honest, there was another reason I chose the brining and grilling method.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
