bruise

[brooz]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bruise ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), bruised, bruis·ing.

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.

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

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

verb (used without object), bruised, bruis·ing.

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

an injury due to bruising; contusion.

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

Related formsun·bruised, adjective

Can be confusedbrews bruise

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for bruise

blemish, swelling, wound, injury, discoloration, contusion, mar, injure, blacken, crush, batter, wale, mouse, mark, boo-boo, deface, pulverize, pound, beat, damage

Examples from the Web for bruise

Contemporary Examples of bruise

In contrast to gentle Eva, Naps liked to draw a little blood in bed, to bruise and be bruised in return.
Tallulah Bankhead: Gay, Drunk and Liberated in an Era of Excess Art
Judith Mackrell
January 25, 2014
As Obama and others press to raise the federal minimum wage about $7.25, skeptics say such a move could bruise the economy.
What Does an Increase in the Minimum Wage Do to the Economy?
Brandy Zadrozny
December 9, 2013
I got a bruise in the shape of a detailed boot print etched in my back.
Interview With Canadian Filmmaker John Greyson Following His Release from Cairo's Tora Prison
Jesse Rosenfeld
October 11, 2013
For the record: A bloody toe for a ballerina is like a bruise for a boxer: ho-hum.
Butchery at the Ballet
Toni Bentley
February 25, 2011
Something triggers his temper—the push may be hard enough to make her bruise.
Hollywood's Kept Women
Gina Piccalo
October 10, 2010

Historical Examples of bruise

His grasp did not bruise, it did not seem to be tight; but the hand that held it was immovable.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
Lay it on a flat plate, and bruise it with the blade of a knife.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches
Eliza Leslie
Nana insisted it was a bruise that Leonie had given her when they were having a bit of a rough-house.
L'Assommoir
Emile Zola
Wash some roots of sorrel quite clean, bruise them in a mortar, and steep them in white wine vinegar for two or three days.
The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches,
Mary Eaton
Then drain off the water, bruise the bread fine, and mix it with as much new milk as will make a pap of a moderate thickness.
The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches,
Mary Eaton

British Dictionary definitions for bruise

bruise

verb (mainly tr)

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

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

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

Word Origin for bruise

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bruise

Old English brysan "to crush, bruise, pound," from Proto-Germanic *brusjanan, from PIE root *bhreus- "to smash, crush" (cf. Old Irish bronnaim "I wrong, I hurt;" Breton brezel "war," Vulgar Latin brisare "to break"). Merged by 17c. with Anglo-French bruiser "to break, smash," from Old French bruisier "to break, shatter," perhaps from Gaulish *brus-, from the same PIE root. Related: Bruised; bruising.

1540s, from bruise (v.).

bruise in Medicine

bruise

[brōōz]

n.

An injury to underlying tissues or bone in which the skin is unbroken, often characterized by ruptured blood vessels and discolorations; a contusion.