stain

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  Gluing and Staining Bench Covered with Zinc
• WordNet 3.6
  • v stain color for microscopic study "The laboratory worker dyed the specimen"
  • v stain 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"
  • v stain produce or leave stains "Red wine stains the table cloth"
  • v stain make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air; also used metaphorically "The silver was tarnished by the long exposure to the air","Her reputation was sullied after the affair with a married man"
  • n stain an act that brings discredit to the person who does it "he made a huge blot on his copybook"
  • n stain a soiled or discolored appearance "the wine left a dark stain"
  • n stain a symbol of disgrace or infamy "And the Lord set a mark upon Cain"--Genesis"
  • n stain the state of being covered with unclean things
  • n stain (microscopy) a dye or other coloring material that is used in microscopy to make structures visible
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Additional illustrations & photos:

William and Dorita with stained clothes, facing Mr. Brown

• Interesting fact: Blood is such a good stain that Native Americans used it for paint
• • Stain A discoloration by foreign matter; a spot; as, a stain on a garment or cloth.
  • Stain A natural spot of a color different from the gound. "Swift trouts, diversified with crimson stains ."
  • Stain A tincture; a tinge. "You have some stain of soldier in you."
  • Stain Cause of reproach; shame.
  • Stain Taint of guilt; tarnish; disgrace; reproach. "Nor death itself can wholly wash their stains .""Our opinion . . . is, I trust, without any blemish or stain of heresy."
  • Stain To cause to seem inferior or soiled by comparison. "She stains the ripest virgins of her age.""That did all other beasts in beauty stain ."
  • Stain To color, as wood, glass, paper, cloth, or the like, by processes 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.
  • Stain To discolor by the application of foreign matter; to make foul; to spot; as, to stain the hand with dye; armor stained with blood.
  • v. i Stain To give or receive a stain; to grow dim.
  • Stain 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 ."
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• Interesting fact: The sap of a banana plant leaves serious stains on hands and clothes that is extremely hard to remove
• • stain To discolor, as by the application of some foreign matter; make foul; spot: as, to stain the hand with dye, or with tobacco-juice; to stain the clothes.
  • stain To soil or sully with guilt or infamy; tarnish; bring reproach on; corrupt; deprave: as, to stain the character; stained with guilt.
  • stain To deface; disfigure; impair, as shape, beauty, or excellence.
  • stain To color by a process other than painting or coating or covering the surface. To color (as glass) by something which combines chemically with the substance to be colored.
  • stain To print colors upon (especially upon paper-hangings).
  • stain To darken; dim; obscure.
  • stain Hence To eclipse; excel.
  • stain To cause a stain or discoloration.
  • stain To take stains; become stained, soiled, or sullied; grow dim; be obscured.
  • n stain A spot; a discoloration, especially a discoloration produced by contact with foreign matter by external causes or influences: as, mildew-stains.
  • n stain A blot; a blemish; a cause of reproach or disgrace: as, a stain on one's character.
  • n stain In entomology, a well-defined spot of color which appears to be semi-transparent, so that it merely modifies the ground-color: it may be produced by very fine dots, as on a butterfly's wing.
  • n stain Taint; tarnish; evil or corrupting effect: as, the stain of sin.
  • n stain Slight trace; tinge; tincture.
  • n stain Coloring matter; a liquid used to color wood, ivory, etc., by absorption.
  • n stain Specifically, a solution of a dye used in microscopical work to render more readily visible various structures, and for purposes of differentiation.
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• Interesting fact: The largest stained-glass window in the world is at Kennedy International Airport in New York City. It can be seen on the American Airlines terminal building and measures 300 feet long by 23 feet high
• • v.t Stain stān to tinge or colour: to give a different colour to: to impregnate, as a tissue, with some substance whose reaction colours some parts but not others, thus making form or structure plainly visible: to dye: to mark with guilt or infamy: to bring reproach on: to sully: to tarnish
  • v.i Stain to take or impart a stain
  • n Stain a discoloration: a spot: taint of guilt: cause of reproach: shame
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• Irving Layton

  

  “If poetry is like an orgasm, an academic can be likened to someone who studies the passion-stains on the bedsheets.”
• Robert Mcafee Brown

  

  “The Church cannot be content to live in its stained-glass house and throw stones through the picture window of modern culture.”
• Raymond Chandler

  

  “It was a blonde. A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained-glass window.”
• Motto

  

  “Let my honor be without stain.”
• John Gay

  

  “But money, wife, is the true Fuller's Earth for reputations, there is not a spot or a stain but what it can take out.”
• Dorothy Parker

  

  “Razors pain you; rivers are damp; acids stain you; and drugs cause cramp. Guns aren't lawful; nooses give; gas smells awful; you might as well live.”

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