Lexic.us

Definition of Stain

1. Noun. A soiled or discolored appearance. "The wine left a dark stain"

2. Verb. Color with a liquid dye or tint. "People knew how to stain glass a beautiful blue in the middle ages"

3. Noun. (microscopy) a dye or other coloring material that is used in microscopy to make structures visible.

4. Verb. Produce or leave stains. "Red wine stains the table cloth"

5. Noun. The state of being covered with unclean things.

6. Verb. Make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air; also used metaphorically. "Her reputation was sullied after the affair with a married man"

7. Noun. A symbol of disgrace or infamy. "And the Lord set a mark upon Cain"

8. Verb. Color for microscopic study. "The laboratory worker dyed the specimen"

9. Noun. An act that brings discredit to the person who does it. "He made a huge blot on his copybook"

Definition of Stain

1. v. t. 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. v. i. To give or receive a stain; to grow dim.

3. n. A discoloration by foreign matter; a spot; as, a stain on a garment or cloth.

Definition of Stain

1. Noun. A discoloured spot or area. ¹

2. Noun. A blemish on one's character or reputation. ¹

3. Noun. A substance used to soak into a surface and colour it. ¹

4. Noun. A reagent or dye used to stain microscope specimens so as to make some structures visible. ¹

5. Verb. To discolour something ¹

6. Verb. To taint or tarnish someone's character or reputation ¹

7. Verb. To coat a surface with a stain ¹

8. Verb. To treat a microscope specimen with a dye ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Stain

1. to discolor or dirty [v -ED, -ING, -S]

Medical Definition of Stain

1. 1. To discolour by the application of foreign matter; to make foul; to spot; as, to stain the hand with dye; armor stained with blood. 2. To colour, as wood, glass, paper, cloth, or the like, by processess affecting, chemically or otherwise, the material itself; to tinge with a colour or colours combining with, or penetrating, the substance; to dye; as, to stain wood with acids, coloured 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) Stained glass, glass coloured or stained by certain metallic pigments fused into its substance, often used for making ornament windows. Synonym: To paint, dye, blot, soil, sully, discolour, 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 colouring matter over it; to stain or dye a thing is to impart colour 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 colours by mordants. Origin: Abbrev. Fr. Distain. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Stain

stagnation stagnation mastitis stagnations stags stagworm stagy stahlian staid staider staidest

staidly staidness staidnesses staig staigs stain (current term) stainabilities stainability stainable stained

stainer stainers stainest staineth staining stainings stainless stainless-steel

Literary usage of Stain

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Animal Micrology: Practical Exercises in Zoölogical Micro-technique by Michael Frederic Guyer (1917)
"117) are difficult to demonstrate, because it is hard to stain them so as to differentiate them from the tissues in which they lie; furthermore, ..."

2. An Introduction to the Study of the Comparative Anatomy of Animals: A by Gilbert Charles Bourne, Arthur Bolles Lee (1900)
"It behaves in general as a decided plasma stain. But used as a regressive stain it sometimes, under conditions which I am not able to specify, ..."

3. The American Naturalist by American Society of Naturalists, Essex Institute (1896)
"The stain is deepest in these parts of the stem and more widespread in the walls of the ... There is still a trace of stain in three bundles ; in one it is ..."

4. The Microscope: An Introduction to Microscopic Methods and to Histology by Simon Henry Gage (1908)
"Small intestine is one of the most striking and instructive organs for this double stain. Make the sections by the paraffin method, but do not fasten them ..."

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