bruise

CEFRC1

/bɹuːz/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A dark mark caused by an injury under the skin.

  2. 02

    verb

    To injure the body without breaking the skin.

Examples

  • My whole body was one big bruise after the rugby game.

  • I have a bruise.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
2
Synonyms
1

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Of fruit or vegetables, to gain bruises through being handled roughly.

  2. To damage the skin of (fruit or vegetables), in an analogous way.

verb

Extra meaning

  1. To strike (a person), originally with something flat or heavy, but now specifically in such a way as to discolour the skin without breaking it; to contuse.

More examples

In context

  • Her thoughtless remarks bruised my ego.

  • Bananas bruise easily.

  • I bruise easily.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

After bumping my elbow hard on the door, a painful blank appeared.

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

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English bruisen, brusen, brosen, brisen, bresen, from a merger two words, both ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrews- (“to break”): * Old English brȳsan, brīesan (“to bruise; crush”), from Proto-Germanic *brausijaną, *brūsijaną (“to break; crumble; crack”). Provided the word's sense. * Anglo-Norman bruiser, bruser (“to break, smash, shatter”), from Gaulish *brus-, from Proto-Celtic *bruseti (“to break”). Provided the word's form. Cognate with Scots brizz, German brausen (“to roar; boom; pound”), Old English brosnian (“to crumble, fall apart”), Dutch broos (“brittle”), German Brosame (“crumb”), dialectal Norwegian brøysk (“breakable”), Latin frustum (“bit, scrap”), Old Chur...