bruise

[brooz] /bruz/
verb (used with object), bruised, bruising.
1.
to injure by striking or pressing, without breaking the skin:
The blow bruised his arm. Her pinching bruised the peaches.
2.
to injure or hurt slightly, as with an insult or unkind remark:
to bruise a person's feelings.
3.
to crush (drugs or food) by beating or pounding.
4.
Metalworking. to injure the surface of (an ingot or finished object) by collision.
verb (used without object), bruised, bruising.
5.
to develop or bear a discolored spot on the skin as the result of a blow, fall, etc.
6.
to become injured slightly:
His feelings bruise easily.
noun
7.
an injury due to bruising; contusion.
Origin
before 900; Middle English bro(o)sen, bres(s)en, bris(s)en, bruisen, representing Old English brȳsan, brēsan and Anglo-French bruser, Old French bruisier, akin to briser to break; see brisance
Related forms
unbruised, adjective
Can be confused
brews, bruise.
Examples from the web for bruise
  • The impact of the projectile itself is likely to fracture, crack or break your bones bones and bruise you.
  • If you've ever had a bruise, you may have noticed that the skin went through a series of color changes as it healed.
  • On dark-skinned people, the rash may resemble a bruise.
  • Many academics have big egos, he says, which bruise easily.
  • One who turned up said he received a bruise on his backside and spent four days in hospital.
  • The road test determines whether a plant will bruise in transit.
  • Her face was scratched, and there was apparently a bruise on the left side of the head.
  • The number of raps that might bring her back to her senses are unlikely to be fatal and may not even leave a bruise.
  • The driver had a small bruise under his eye from hitting the steering wheel after she struck him, the police said.
  • He has a nasty bruise on his forehead but appears fine.
British Dictionary definitions for bruise

bruise

/bruːz/
verb (mainly transitive)
1.
(also intransitive) to injure (tissues) without breaking the skin, usually with discoloration, or (of tissues) to be injured in this way
2.
to offend or injure (someone's feelings) by an insult, unkindness, etc
3.
to damage the surface of (something), as by a blow
4.
to crush (food, etc) by pounding or pressing
noun
5.
a bodily injury without a break in the skin, usually with discoloration; contusion
Word Origin
Old English brӯsan, of Celtic origin; compare Irish brūigim I bruise
Word Origin and History for bruise
v.

Old English brysan "to crush, bruise, pound," from Proto-Germanic *brusjanan, from PIE root *bhreus- "to smash, crush" (cf. Old Irish bronnaim "I wrong, I hurt;" Breton brezel "war," Vulgar Latin brisare "to break"). Merged by 17c. with Anglo-French bruiser "to break, smash," from Old French bruisier "to break, shatter," perhaps from Gaulish *brus-, from the same PIE root. Related: Bruised; bruising.

n.

1540s, from bruise (v.).

bruise in Medicine

bruise (brōōz)
n.
An injury to underlying tissues or bone in which the skin is unbroken, often characterized by ruptured blood vessels and discolorations; a contusion.