brine

CEFRC1

/ˈbɹaɪ̯n/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    Very salty water used for preserving food.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    The sea or ocean; the water of the sea.

Examples

  • Do you want a can of tuna in oil or in brine?

  • The olives are subsequently placed in brine.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
3

Also pronounced

  • /ˈbɹɑ̟ɪ̯n/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. To preserve food in a salt solution.

  2. Salt water; water saturated or strongly impregnated with salt; a salt-and-water solution for pickling.

verb

Extra meaning

  1. To prepare and flavor food (especially meat) for cooking by soaking in a salt solution.

More examples

In context

  • Philander went into the next room[…]and came back with a salt mackerel that dripped brine like a rainstorm. Then he put the coffee pot on the stove and rummaged out a loaf of dry bread and some hardtack.

  • "Ho, aboard the Salt Junk Sarah, Rollin" home across the line, The Bo'sun collared the Captain's hat And threw it in the brine.

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Pickles are often preserved in blank, a salty water solution.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English brine, bryne, from Old English brīne, from Proto-West Germanic *brīnā, from Proto-Germanic *brīnǭ (“salt water, brine”) (compare Scots brime, West Frisian brein, Dutch brijn (“brine”), West Flemish brijne), of unknown ultimate origin, but probably from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreyH- (“to cut, maim”). Cognates include Old Irish ro·bria (“may hurt, damage”), Latin friāre (“to rub, crumble”), Slovene bríti (“to shave, shear”), Albanian brej (“to gnaw”), Sanskrit बृणाति (bṛṇā́ti, “they injure, hurt”). Alternatively, from Proto-Indo-European *mriHnós, from *móri (compare Latin marīnus).