- stain´like´
- stain «stayn», verb, noun.–v.t.1. to discolor (something); spot; soil: »
The tablecloth is stained where food has been spilled. Let not women's weapons, waterdrops, Stain my man's cheeks (Shakespeare).
2. Figurative. a) o spot by wrongdoing or disgrace (a person's reputation or honor); blemish; dishonor: »His crimes stained the family honor. But thoughtless follies laid him low, And stain'd his name (Robert Burns).
b) to corrupt morally; taint with guilt or vice; defile.3. to color or dye: »She stained the chair green.
4. to color (a microscopic specimen).–v.i.1. to cause a stain or discoloration.2. to take a stain; admit of staining.–n.2. a natural spot or patch of color different from the background.3. Figurative. a mark of disgrace; dishonor; stigma: »His character is without stain. When you know the dream is true And lovely with no flaw nor stain (Robert Graves).
4. a liquid preparation of coloring or dye used especially to color woods and fabrics, by penetrating the pores: »Paint the table with a brown stain.
5. a dye or pigment used to make visible transparent or very small structures, or to differentiate tissue elements by coloring, for microscopic study: »... many of the various stains used in microscopic work have a selective effect on bacteria, coloring some species and leaving others more or less unaffected (Fred W. Emerson).
╂[probably fusion of short form of Middle English distainen (< Old French desteign-, stem of desteindre take out the color, ultimately < Latin dis- off + tingere to dye), and a Scandinavian borrowing (compare Old Icelandic steina to paint)]–stain´a|ble, adjective.–stain´er, noun.–stain´like´, adjective.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.
