stain Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a soiled or discolored appearance
    discolouration; discoloration.
    • the wine left a dark stain
  2. noun (microscopy) a dye or other coloring material that is used in microscopy to make structures visible
  3. noun the state of being covered with unclean things
    grease; filth; dirt; soil; grime; grunge.
  4. noun a symbol of disgrace or infamy
    stigma; brand; mark.
    • And the Lord set a mark upon Cain"--Genesis
  5. noun an act that brings discredit to the person who does it
    smear; smirch; blot; spot.
    • he made a huge blot on his copybook
  6. verb color with a liquid dye or tint
    • Stain this table a beautiful walnut color
    • people knew how to stain glass a beautiful blue in the middle ages
  7. verb produce or leave stains
    • Red wine stains the table cloth
  8. verb make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air; also used metaphorically
    tarnish; sully; maculate; defile.
    • The silver was tarnished by the long exposure to the air
    • Her reputation was sullied after the affair with a married man
  9. verb color for microscopic study
    • The laboratory worker dyed the specimen

WordNet

Stain transitive verb
Etymology
Abbrev. fr. distain.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Stained ; present participle & verbal noun Staining
Definitions
  1. To discolor by the application of foreign matter; to make foul; to spot; as, to stain the hand with dye; armor stained with blood.
  2. To color, as wood, glass, paper, cloth, or the like, by processess affecting, chemically or otherwise, the material itself; to tinge with a color or colors combining with, or penetrating, the substance; to dye; as, to stain wood with acids, colored washes, paint rubbed in, etc.; to stain glass.
  3. To spot with guilt or infamy; to bring reproach on; to blot; to soil; to tarnish.
    Of honor void, Of innocence, of faith, of purity, Our wonted ornaments now soiled and stained. Milton.
  4. To cause to seem inferior or soiled by comparison.
    She stains the ripest virgins of her age. Beau. & Fl.
    That did all other beasts in beauty stain. Spenser.
    Syn. -- To paint; dye; blot; soil; sully; discolor; disgrace; taint. -- Paint, Stain, Dye. These denote three different processes; the first mechanical, the other two, chiefly chemical. To paint a thing is so spread a coat of coloring matter over it; to stain or dye a thing is to impart color to its substance. To stain is said chiefly of solids, as wood, glass, paper; to dye, of fibrous substances, textile fabrics, etc.; the one, commonly, a simple process, as applying a wash; the other more complex, as fixing colors by mordants.
Stain intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To give or receive a stain; to grow dim.
Stain noun
Definitions
  1. A discoloration by foreign matter; a spot; as, a stain on a garment or cloth. Shak.
  2. A natural spot of a color different from the gound.
    Swift trouts, diversified with crimson stains. Pope.
  3. Taint of guilt; tarnish; disgrace; reproach.
    Nor death itself can wholly wash their stains. Dryden.
    Our opinion . . . is, I trust, without any blemish or stain of heresy. Hooker.
  4. Cause of reproach; shame. Sir P. Sidney.
  5. A tincture; a tinge. R.
    You have some stain of soldier in you. Shak.
    Syn. -- Blot; spot; taint; pollution; blemish; tarnish; color; disgrace; infamy; shame.

Webster 1913