bruise
Americanverb (used with object)
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to injure by striking or pressing, without breaking the skin.
The blow bruised his arm. Her pinching bruised the peaches.
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to injure or hurt slightly, as with an insult or unkind remark.
to bruise a person's feelings.
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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)
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to develop or bear a discolored spot on the skin as the result of a blow, fall, etc.
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to become injured slightly.
His feelings bruise easily.
noun
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
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to offend or injure (someone's feelings) by an insult, unkindness, etc
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to damage the surface of (something), as by a blow
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to crush (food, etc) by pounding or pressing
noun
Other Word Forms
- unbruised adjective
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; brisance
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.
Confidently, “Yes” ups the buffoonery in a big way, signaling an increased willingness to bruise viewers.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026
In the early days after injury, a hematoma or bruise develops at the fracture site.
From Science Daily • Mar. 3, 2026
If the effort fails, it will be another bruise for an investment firm that recently stumbled in its attempt at another big deal buying the U.K.’s Telegraph and its sister paper the Spectator.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026
As he has pivoted from this declaration a decade later, one would think his ego would bruise from his non-stop insistence that he’s too ignorant for anyone to expect him to know things.
From Salon • Dec. 22, 2025
“We must consult the governors,” said Professor Flitwick in his squeaky little voice; he had a large bruise on his forehead but seemed otherwise unscathed by his collapse in Snape’s office.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
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.
