bruise

[brooz]

verb (used with object)

bruised, bruising 

1. to injure by striking or pressing, without breaking the skin.

   The blow bruised his arm. Her pinching bruised the peaches.

2. to injure or hurt slightly, as with an insult or unkind remark.

   to bruise a person's feelings.

3. to crush (drugs or food) by beating or pounding.

4. Metalworking.,  to injure the surface of (an ingot or finished object) by collision.

verb (used without object)

bruised, bruising 

1. to develop or bear a discolored spot on the skin as the result of a blow, fall, etc.

2. to become injured slightly.

   His feelings bruise easily.

noun

1. an injury due to bruising; contusion.

bruise

/ bruːz /

verb

1. (also intr) to injure (tissues) without breaking the skin, usually with discoloration, or (of tissues) to be injured in this way

2. to offend or injure (someone's feelings) by an insult, unkindness, etc

3. to damage the surface of (something), as by a blow

4. to crush (food, etc) by pounding or pressing

noun

1. a bodily injury without a break in the skin, usually with discoloration; contusion

Other Word Forms

• unbruised adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bruise¹

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; brisance

Word History and Origins

Origin of bruise¹

Old English brӯsan , of Celtic origin; compare Irish brūigim I bruise

Example Sentences

USC left Ann Arbor, Mich., last season battered and bruised, its narrow September loss to Michigan having laid bare one of the program’s most pressing concerns upon joining the Big Ten.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Lai's speech followed a bruising year for the president, a staunch defender of Taiwan's sovereignty who is loathed by Beijing.

Read more on Barron's

When Monday night comes around, Wales will be prepared – if a little bruised by their trip to Wembley.

Read more on BBC

Rumors about the president’s health have dogged him since returning to office, including continuing speculation regarding bruises on his hands, which first came to light in February.

Read more on Salon

Meanwhile, the style of play in the NHL became faster and a little less bruising than it had been in the aughts—and far less brutal than it was in Gretzky’s heyday.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• bang up 
• batter 
• blacken 
• crush 
• injure 
• mar 
• wound