DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan
Stain v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stained p. pr. & vb. n. Staining.]
1. 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. 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.
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 colored or stained by certain metallic pigments fused into its substance, -- often used for making ornamental windows.
Syn: -- To paint; dye; blot; soil; sully; discolor; disgrace; taint.
Usage: Paint, Stain, Dye. These denote three different processes; the first mechanical, the other two, chiefly chemical. To paint a thing is to spread a coat of coloring matter over it; to stain or dye a thing is to impart color 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 colors by mordants.
stained
adj 1: marked or dyed or discolored with foreign matter; "a badly
stained tablecloth"; "tear-stained cheeks" [ant: unstained]
2: having a coating of stain or varnish [syn: varnished]
3: especially of reputation; "the senator's seriously damaged
reputation"; "a flyblown reputation"; "a tarnished
reputation"; "inherited a spotted name" [syn: besmirched,
damaged, flyblown, spotted, sullied, tainted, tarnished]