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Stain   /steɪn/   Listen
Stain

noun
1.
A soiled or discolored appearance.  Synonyms: discoloration, discolouration.
2.
(microscopy) a dye or other coloring material that is used in microscopy to make structures visible.
3.
The state of being covered with unclean things.  Synonyms: dirt, filth, grease, grime, grunge, soil.
4.
A symbol of disgrace or infamy.  Synonyms: brand, mark, stigma.
5.
An act that brings discredit to the person who does it.  Synonyms: blot, smear, smirch, spot.
verb
(past & past part. stained; pres. part. staining)
1.
Color with a liquid dye or tint.  "People knew how to stain glass a beautiful blue in the middle ages"
2.
Produce or leave stains.
3.
Make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air; also used metaphorically.  Synonyms: defile, maculate, sully, tarnish.  "Her reputation was sullied after the affair with a married man"
4.
Color for microscopic study.



Related searches:
bloodstain
counterstain
Gram stain
Gram's stain
mud stain
oil stain
port-wine stain
stainer
staining


WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University


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"Stain" Quotes from Famous Books



... Pencroft," replied the reporter. "Bows and arrows were sufficient for centuries to stain the earth with blood. Powder is but a thing of yesterday, and war is as old as ...
— The Mysterious Island • Jules Verne
... led on men to commit murder," said Gascoyne, in the same tone and with the same steadfast gaze. "This hand is free from the stain of human blood. Do you believe ...
— Gascoyne, the Sandal-Wood Trader • R.M. Ballantyne
... never bring peace to Zukovo. What you do to-day will be visited on you to-morrow. I pray that you will listen to me. I have fought for you and with you—with Gleb Saltykov and Anton Lensky, against the return of Absolutism in Russia. The old order of things is gone. Do not stain the new with crime in Zukovo. I beseech you to disperse—return to your homes and I will come to you to-morrow and if there are wrongs I will set them right. You have believed in me in the past. Believe in me now and all may yet be well in Zukovo. ...
— The Vagrant Duke • George Gibbs
... crablike motion. Upon its face were stamped countless wrinkles and its blackness seemed less that of pigmentation than the weathering of unbelievable years, the very stain of ancientness. And about neither face nor figure was there anything to show whether it was ...
— The Metal Monster • A. Merritt
... sent to execution like the vilest and most contemptible of criminals by adversaries who would not command a regiment. The inference is that the September massacres, which have ever since been stigmatized as the deepest stain upon the Revolution, were, veritably, due to the Royalists, who made with the Republicans an issue of self-preservation. For this was no common war. In Royalist eyes it was a servile revolt, and was to be treated as servile revolts during the Middle Ages had always been treated. Again ...
— The Theory of Social Revolutions • Brooks Adams


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