wound

¹

[ woond; Older Use and Literary wound ]

noun

1. an injury, usually involving division of tissue or rupture of the integument or mucous membrane, due to external violence or some mechanical agency rather than disease.

   Synonyms: trauma, lesion, laceration, stab, cut

2. a similar injury to the tissue of a plant.
3. an injury or hurt to feelings, sensibilities, reputation, etc.

   Synonyms: anguish, pain, insult

verb (used with object)

1. to inflict a wound upon; injure; hurt.

   Synonyms: lacerate, stab, cut, damage, harm

verb (used without object)

1. to inflict a wound.

wound

²

[ wound ]

verb

1. a simple past tense and past participle of wind ² and wind ³.

wound

¹

/ waʊnd /

verb

1. See wind
   the past tense and past participle of wind 2

wound

²

/ wuːnd /

noun

1. any break in the skin or an organ or part as the result of violence or a surgical incision
2. an injury to plant tissue
3. any injury or slight to the feelings or reputation

verb

1. to inflict a wound or wounds upon (someone or something)

Derived Forms

• ˈwoundless, adjective
• ˈwounding, adjective
• ˈwounder, noun
• ˈwoundingly, adverb
• ˈwoundable, adjective

Other Words From

• wounded·ly adverb
• wounding·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of wound¹

First recorded before 900; (noun) Middle English; Old English wund; cognate with Old High German wunta ( German Wunde ), Old Norse und, Gothic wunds; (verb) Middle English wounden, Old English wundian, derivative of the noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of wound¹

Old English wund; related to Old Frisian wunde, Old High German wunta (German Wunde ), Old Norse und, Gothic wunds

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. lick one's wounds, to attempt to heal one's injuries or soothe one's hurt feelings after a defeat.

More idioms and phrases containing wound

see lick one's wounds ; rub in (salt into a wound) .

Synonym Study

See injury.

Example Sentences

She was found with several wounds on her body and her face was disfigured.

From Washington Blade

“They had to be taken to the hospital that night for their wounds to be stitched, but thankfully no one lost their life,” he said.

From Washington Blade

I wound up working for him for a few summers when we were in our early 20s.

From Ozy

To be sure, a majority of the 1,126 workers we looked at wound up in software and internet-focused industries, which include unsurprising names like Apple, Alphabet, and IBM.

From Quartz

Repair cells, for example, send out filopodia to detect chemical cues to navigate to wound sites.

From Science News

Saved from the public gallows, Weeks was virtually exiled from the city, and wound up in Mississippi, where he raised a family.

From The Daily Beast

But those strands of his identity are all wound around the conspiracy that led him back to Gambia for the first time in 23 years.

From The Daily Beast

As the interview wound down, Bentivolio reflected on what may have motivated him to dress as Santa.

From The Daily Beast

But others say a still-unidentified man likely fired the round that caused a lethal head wound.

From The Daily Beast

The cop lay open-eyed with a grievous head wound as Johnson again checked for a pulse.

From The Daily Beast

The grass had a delightful fragrance, like new-mown hay, and was neatly wound around the tunnel, like the inside of a bird's-nest.

From Project Gutenberg

Ripperda's equipage wound down a long and twisting defile between two precipitous rocks.

From Project Gutenberg

It was little better than coal dust, and would not carry a ball fifty paces to kill or wound.

From Project Gutenberg

The Taube has been bothering us again, but wound up its manœuvres very decently by killing some fish for our dinner.

From Project Gutenberg

After this it wound along on ridges and in ravines till it reached the heart of a great pine forest, where stood a saw-mill.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• bruise
• cut
• damage
• grief
• laceration
• lesion
• pain
• shock
• trauma