imbrue
Americanverb (used with object)
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to stain.
He refused to imbrue his hands with the blood of more killing.
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to impregnate or imbue (usually followed by with orin ).
They are imbrued with the follies of youth.
verb
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to stain, esp with blood
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to permeate or impregnate
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of imbrue
1400–50; late Middle English enbrewen < Middle French embreuver to cause to drink in, soak, drench < Vulgar Latin *imbiberāre, derivative of Latin imbibere to imbibe
Explanation
To imbrue is to stain or saturate, the way water imbrues your jeans when you walk down the street in a rainstorm. Use this old-fashioned, literary verb when you need a fancy way to say "dampen" or "permeate." It's also frequently used in literature to specifically refer to things stained with blood: "The battle will only serve to imbrue their swords with blood." The word comes from the Old French embruer, "to moisten."
Vocabulary lists containing imbrue
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:
In another minute," said Berry, "I shall imbrue this omelet with tears.
From Jonah and Co. by Yates, Dornford
Men generally do not specially desire to imbrue their hands in the blood of other men.
From The Life of Cicero Volume One by Trollope, Anthony
He took a comprehensive glance about the room; then, extracting a dish from the closet, proceeded to imbrue his hands in the strawberries' blood.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 06, No. 36, October, 1860 by Various
The hazards attending my re-entrance were to be boldly encountered, and the torments of unsatisfied thirst were to be patiently endured, rather than imbrue my hands in the blood of my fellowmen.
From Edgar Huntly or, Memoirs of a Sleep-Walker by Brown, Charles Brockden
The citizen of heaven knew that it was his duty to 'hunt Sarmatians' on earth, though he was not obliged to imbrue his hands with 'Cæsarism.'
From Outspoken Essays by Inge, William Ralph
Deluded by the notion that I was playing with a fancy, I was suddenly aroused to find myself imbrued in facts.
From David Poindexter's Disappearance, and Other Tales by Hawthorne, Julian
Sunday morning; The Southern Cross in digger's gore imbrued, Was torn away, and left the diggers mourning!
From The Eureka Stockade by Carboni, Raffaello
War was war, no doubt; and women must mourn at home while men imbrued themselves in the gallant strife.
From The Mayor of Troy by Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir
Their hands, then—unless the present ruddying of female fingernails is the revival of an old fashion—were not pink-tipped, save, perhaps, in the way of health; nor imbrued, except in soapsuds.
From She Stands Accused by MacClure, Victor
The historian Zosimus maliciously asserts, that the emperor had imbrued his hands in the blood of his eldest son, before he publicly renounced the gods of Rome and of his ancestors.
From History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 2 by Milman, Henry Hart
In strongly asserting this traditional law, the Inquisitors imagined that they thereby freed themselves from all responsibility, and kept from imbruing their hands in bloodshed.
From The Inquisition A Critical and Historical Study of the Coercive Power of the Church by Conway, Bertrand L. (Bertrand Louis)
Now she saw that the woman’s oily diplomacy was only for public use, and that all the while she was imbruing the minds of the little children with the dye of her own thoughts.
From The Cup of Fury A Novel of Cities and Shipyards by Raleigh, Henry
Barnwell, instead of imbruing his hands in innocent blood, even "in jest," became the most active agent in rescuing his hapless audience from their perilous situation.
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 10 by Various
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.
