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.
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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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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
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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
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
Insurance isn’t there to handle every bump and bruise.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 21, 2026
Nervous, I rubbed the bruise above my eye.
From "The Stars Beneath Our Feet" by David Barclay Moore
"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
Two others were treated for cuts and bruises.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
The press is full of uninformed speculation about bruises on his hands and puffy ankles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
As my injuries from my fishing work began to heal, I acquired a new set of scratches and bruises, and after one fall I was limping for days.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
U.S. junk bonds are getting badly bruised in September, with their high yields so far failing to provide enough cushion this month to withstand heightened market volatility without losses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
That means the Dodgers will get five days off next week to prepare for their playoff opener, a godsend for a bruised and bloodied team that has stumbled to the finish of the regular season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
Reiner pointed to “a variety of physical ailments” that are “easy to see,” including bruised hands, swollen legs and an inability to stay awake.
From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2026
Benn and Sir Keir Starmer made a core part of their time in office fixing relations with the Irish government, which had been badly bruised during Brexit.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
He reached the crossroads on the edge of the wood, sweaty and hungry and bruised, pulling an uncooperative goat.
From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman
But even then, the film feels energized by its bold mixture of pulp pleasures and weighty musings, operating with a bruising efficiency that Ali’s skilled assassin would no doubt respect.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
Sutton said his old club have been "flat-track bullies" by "beating the teams you expect them to beat", but the collapse in Austria, plus Sunday's bruising loss, has highlighted glaring deficiencies.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
Chip stocks were staging a sharp rally on Thursday, continuing their comeback from a bruising selloff at the start of the week.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026
The bruising recession that followed left the central banker convinced the global economy had become too dependent on the U.S. and its reserve currency.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
I would later learn that Farmer had suffered a slipped disk in his back from taking this bruising journey countless times.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
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.
