bruise
[verb]
Synonyms:
- discolour, damage, injure, mar, mark, pound
[noun]
Synonyms:
- discoloration, black mark, blemish, contusion, injury, mark, swelling

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Related Idioms: black-and-blue spot (or mark)
Related Words: boo-boo, abrasion, scrape, scratch, batter, bung-up

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English Thesaurus: blemish, mole, freckles, birthmark, bruise, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. bruise¹ /bruːz/ noun [countable]

1. a purple or brown mark on your skin that you get because you have fallen, been hit etc:
minor cuts and bruises

2. a mark on a piece of fruit that spoils its appearance

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. bruise² verb
[Language: Old English; Origin: brysan 'to press so as to break, bruise', later influenced by Old French brisier, bruisier 'to break']

1. [intransitive and transitive] if part of your body bruises, or if you bruise part of your body, it gets hit or hurt and a bruise appears:
She fell off her bike and bruised her knee.

2. [transitive] to affect someone badly and make them feel less confident
bruise sb’s pride/ego
The incident had bruised his pride.

3. [intransitive and transitive] if a piece of fruit bruises, or is bruised, it gets a bruise by being hit, dropped etc
—bruised adjective:
a badly bruised knee
a bruised ego

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

bruise
noun
ADJ. black, dark, livid, purple | swollen
VERB + BRUISE suffer She suffered only minor cuts and bruises.
BRUISE + VERB form A bruise had formed below his left eye.
fade

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

blemish a mark on your skin that spoils its appearance:
John grew a beard to hide the blemishes on his chin.
mole a small dark, sometimes raised, mark on your skin:
Some moles may become cancerous.
Helena found a mole on her arm which had definitely not been there before.
freckles small light brown marks on your skin, especially on your face but also on your arms, shoulders etc:
She had a light sprinkling of freckles across her nose.
birthmark a permanent mark on your skin that you have had since you were born:
There was a small birthmark on her left cheek.
bruise a purple or brown mark on your skin that you get because you have fallen or been hit:
Her legs were covered in cuts and bruises.
scar a permanent mark on your skin, caused by a cut or by something that burns you:
The injury left a small scar on his forehead.
pimple/zit (also spot British English) a small raised red mark or lump on your skin, which usually appears when a child is between 12 and 18 years old:
When I was a teenager I had terrible spots.
The boy had a few pimples under his chin.
wart a small hard raised mark on your skin caused by a virus:
His face was covered in hairy warts.
blister a small area of skin that is swollen and full of liquid because it has been rubbed or burned:
There was a blister on his arm where the boiling milk had splashed him.
rash an area of small red spots on your skin, caused by an illness or an allergy:
I can’t eat strawberries - they give me a rash.
be badly scarred
Her legs were badly scarred from a car accident.
be permanently scarred
His face had been permanently scarred by smallpox.
be hideously scarred (=in a very unattractive way)
The right side of her face was hideously scarred.
be scarred for life (=get a permanent scar)
A little girl has been scarred for life in a tragic playground accident.
leave somebody scarred
The surgery left her face and neck scarred.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

break verb [transitive] to damage something and make it separate into pieces, for example by dropping it or hitting it:
Careful you don’t break the chair.
He broke his leg.
smash verb [transitive] to break something with a lot of force:
A policeman smashed his camera.
snap verb [transitive] to break something into two pieces, making a loud noise – used especially about long thin objects:
He snapped the sticks in two.
split verb [transitive] to separate something into two pieces along a straight line:
Using a sharp knife, split the melon in half.
fracture verb [transitive] to damage a bone, especially so that a line appears on the surface:
I fell over and fractured my wrist.
tear /teə $ ter/ verb [transitive] to damage paper or cloth by pulling it so that it separates into pieces:
She tore up the letter and put it in the bin.
I tore my jacket.
injury damage to part of your body caused by an accident or an attack:
The passengers were taken to hospital with minor injuries.
wound an injury, especially a deep cut in your skin made by a knife, bullet, or bomb:
He died of a gunshot wound to the head.
cut a small injury made when a sharp object cuts your skin:
Blood was running from a cut on his chin.
bruise a dark mark on your skin that you get when you fall or get hit:
Jack often comes home from playing rugby covered in bruises.
graze/scrape a small injury that marks your skin or breaks the surface slightly:
She fell off her bike and got a few grazes on her legs and knees.
gash a long deep cut:
He had a deep gash across his forehead.
bump an area of skin that is swollen because you have hit it against something:
How did you get that bump on your head?
sprain an injury to your ankle, wrist, knee etc, caused by suddenly twisting it:
It’s a slight sprain – you should rest your ankle for a week.
strain an injury to a muscle caused by stretching it or using it too much:
a muscle strain in his neck

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

hit:
I’ve got a bad bruise where I hit my leg against the table.
The car hit a tree.
bump to hit a part of your body against something, especially because you do not see or notice it:
Careful you don’t bump your head – the ceiling’s very low.
bang/bash to hit something hard, so that you hurt yourself or damage something:
He banged into the car in front.
I bashed my knee climbing over a gate.
She fell and bashed her chin on the ground.
stub to hit your toe against something and hurt it:
I stubbed my toe on the piano leg.
injury damage to part of your body caused by an accident or an attack:
The passengers were taken to hospital with minor injuries.
wound an injury, especially a deep cut in your skin made by a knife, bullet, or bomb:
He died of a gunshot wound to the head.
cut a small injury made when a sharp object cuts your skin:
Blood was running from a cut on his chin.
bruise a dark mark on your skin that you get when you fall or get hit:
Jack often comes home from playing rugby covered in bruises.
graze/scrape a small injury that marks your skin or breaks the surface slightly:
She fell off her bike and got a few grazes on her legs and knees.
gash a long deep cut:
He had a deep gash across his forehead.
sprain an injury to your ankle, wrist, knee etc, caused by suddenly twisting it:
It’s a slight sprain – you should rest your ankle for a week.
strain an injury to a muscle caused by stretching it or using it too much:
a muscle strain in his neck
fracture a crack or broken part in a bone:
a hip fracture

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

hurt to damage part of your body, or someone else’s body:
She slipped on the ice and hurt herself badly.
Be careful you don’t hurt anyone with that knife.
injure to hurt yourself quite severely, or to be hurt in an accident or fighting:
One of our players has injured his leg, and will be out of the game for weeks.
Four people have been seriously injured on the Arizona highway.
wound to deliberately hurt someone using a weapon such as a knife or gun:
The gunmen shot and killed twelve people and wounded three others.
maim /meɪm/ [usually passive] to hurt someone very severely, especially so that they lose an arm, leg etc, often as the result of an explosion:
In countries where there are landmines, people are killed and maimed daily.
break to hurt a part of your body by breaking a bone in it:
The X-ray showed that I had broken my wrist.
bruise to hurt a part of your body when you fall on it or hit it, causing a dark mark to appear on your skin:
Cathy fell off her bike and bruised her legs badly.
sprain/twist to hurt your knee, wrist, shoulder etc by suddenly twisting it while you are moving:
I jumped down from the wall and landed awkwardly, spraining my ankle.
strain/pull to hurt one of your muscles by stretching it or using it too much:
When you are lifting heavy loads, be careful not to strain a back muscle.
dislocate to damage a joint in your body in a way that moves the two parts of the joint out of their normal position:
Our best batsman dislocated his shoulder during training.
paralyse [usually passive] to make someone lose the ability to move part or all of their body:
A climbing accident had left him paralysed from the chest down.
ache to hurt with a continuous pain:
I’d been walking all day and my legs were really aching.
throb to feel a bad pain that comes and goes again in a regular and continuous way:
Lou had a terrible headache and his whole head seemed to be throbbing.
sting to feel a sharp pain, or to make someone feel this, especially in your eyes, throat, or skin:
My throat stings every time I swallow.
This injection may sting a little.
smart to hurt with a sudden sharp pain – used especially about your eyes, or your skin where something has hit you:
Her eyes were smarting from the thick smoke.
Jackson’s face was still smarting from the punch.
burn to feel very hot and painful or uncomfortable:
Be careful because this chemical will make your skin burn.
His eyes were burning because of the gas.
pinch if something you are wearing pinches you, it is too tight and presses painfully on your skin:
The shirt was a bit too small and it was pinching my neck.
something is killing me spoken informal used when something feels very painful:
My legs are killing me.
These shoes are killing me.
a bad back/leg/arm etc if you have a bad back/leg/arm etc, it feels painful:
He’s off work with a bad back.
upset [not before noun] unhappy and worried because something unpleasant or disappointing has happened:
Miss Hurley is too upset to speak to anyone at the moment.
She’s still deeply upset about her uncle’s death.
He’s upset that he didn’t get an invitation to their wedding.
distressed very upset:
Priests have been counselling distressed relatives of the victims.
She was visibly distressed after hearing of her husband’s accident.
Matilda was too distressed to speak.
distraught written so upset and worried that you are unable to do normal things, and nothing can make you feel calm:
Benson was so distraught over the breakup of his marriage that he felt like committing suicide.
The distraught parents of the missing baby have made a public appeal for her return.
in a (terrible) state British English informal so upset that you cannot stop crying:
She called me one night in a terrible state, saying she wanted to die.
I could see that she was in a bit of a state.
be worked up informal to be very upset or angry, so that you think things are worse than they really are:
I was too worked up to sleep.
It’s not worth getting worked up about. Anyone can make a mistake.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

injury damage to part of your body caused by an accident or an attack:
The passengers were taken to hospital with minor injuries.
wound an injury, especially a deep cut in your skin made by a knife, bullet, or bomb:
He died of a gunshot wound to the head.
cut a small injury made when a sharp object cuts your skin:
Blood was running from a cut on his chin.
bruise a dark mark on your skin that you get when you fall or get hit:
Jack often comes home from playing rugby covered in bruises.
graze/scrape a small injury that marks your skin or breaks the surface slightly:
She fell off her bike and got a few grazes on her legs and knees.
gash a long deep cut:
He had a deep gash across his forehead.
bump an area of skin that is swollen because you have hit it against something:
How did you get that bump on your head?
sprain an injury to your ankle, wrist, knee etc, caused by suddenly twisting it:
It’s a slight sprain – you should rest your ankle for a week.
strain an injury to a muscle caused by stretching it or using it too much:
a muscle strain in his neck
fracture a crack or broken part in a bone:
a hip fracture
be badly/seriously wounded
Her husband was seriously wounded in the attack.
be critically wounded (=be so badly wounded that you might die)
He was critically wounded in the attack.
be mortally/fatally wounded
On that same day, he was mortally wounded by an assassin.
be slightly wounded
Two people were shot and slightly wounded.
hurt to damage part of your body, or someone else’s body:
She slipped on the ice and hurt herself badly.
Be careful you don’t hurt anyone with that knife.
injure to hurt yourself quite severely, or to be hurt in an accident or fighting:
One of our players has injured his leg, and will be out of the game for weeks.
Four people have been seriously injured on the Arizona highway.
maim /meɪm/ [usually passive] to hurt someone very severely, especially so that they lose an arm, leg etc, often as the result of an explosion:
In countries where there are landmines, people are killed and maimed daily.
break to hurt a part of your body by breaking a bone in it:
The X-ray showed that I had broken my wrist.
sprain/twist to hurt your knee, wrist, shoulder etc by suddenly twisting it while you are moving:
I jumped down from the wall and landed awkwardly, spraining my ankle.
strain/pull to hurt one of your muscles by stretching it or using it too much:
When you are lifting heavy loads, be careful not to strain a back muscle.
dislocate to damage a joint in your body in a way that moves the two parts of the joint out of their normal position:
Our best batsman dislocated his shoulder during training.
paralyse [usually passive] to make someone lose the ability to move part or all of their body:
A climbing accident had left him paralysed from the chest down.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

injury damage to part of your body caused by an accident or an attack:
The passengers were taken to hospital with minor injuries.
wound an injury, especially a deep cut in your skin made by a knife, bullet, or bomb:
He died of a gunshot wound to the head.
cut a small injury made when a sharp object cuts your skin:
Blood was running from a cut on his chin.
bruise a dark mark on your skin that you get when you fall or get hit:
Jack often comes home from playing rugby covered in bruises.
graze/scrape a small injury that marks your skin or breaks the surface slightly:
She fell off her bike and got a few grazes on her legs and knees.
gash a long deep cut:
He had a deep gash across his forehead.
bump an area of skin that is swollen because you have hit it against something:
How did you get that bump on your head?
sprain an injury to your ankle, wrist, knee etc, caused by suddenly twisting it:
It’s a slight sprain – you should rest your ankle for a week.
strain an injury to a muscle caused by stretching it or using it too much:
a muscle strain in his neck
fracture a crack or broken part in a bone:
a hip fracture
hurt to damage part of your body, or someone else’s body:
She slipped on the ice and hurt herself badly.
Be careful you don’t hurt anyone with that knife.
injure to hurt yourself quite severely, or to be hurt in an accident or fighting:
One of our players has injured his leg, and will be out of the game for weeks.
Four people have been seriously injured on the Arizona highway.
maim /meɪm/ [usually passive] to hurt someone very severely, especially so that they lose an arm, leg etc, often as the result of an explosion:
In countries where there are landmines, people are killed and maimed daily.
break to hurt a part of your body by breaking a bone in it:
The X-ray showed that I had broken my wrist.
sprain/twist to hurt your knee, wrist, shoulder etc by suddenly twisting it while you are moving:
I jumped down from the wall and landed awkwardly, spraining my ankle.
strain/pull to hurt one of your muscles by stretching it or using it too much:
When you are lifting heavy loads, be careful not to strain a back muscle.
dislocate to damage a joint in your body in a way that moves the two parts of the joint out of their normal position:
Our best batsman dislocated his shoulder during training.
paralyse [usually passive] to make someone lose the ability to move part or all of their body:
A climbing accident had left him paralysed from the chest down.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

mark a dirty area on something that spoils its appearance:
The bark of the tree had made black marks on her trousers.
spot a small mark on something:
a grease spot on my shirt
stain a mark that is difficult to remove, especially one made by a dark liquid:
a wine stain on the tablecloth
blood stains
smudge a mark that is made when something touches against a surface:
There was a smudge of lipstick on his cheek.
He had a smudge of chalk on his jacket.
smear a mark that is made by a small amount of something spread across a surface:
The table had a smear of paint on the top.
fingerprint (also fingermark British English) a mark on the surface of something that is made by someone’s fingers:
The glass was covered with greasy fingerprints.
blemish a mark on your skin that spoils its appearance:
John grew a beard to hide the blemishes on his chin.
mole a small dark, sometimes raised, mark on your skin:
Some moles may become cancerous.
Helena found a mole on her arm which had definitely not been there before.
freckles small light brown marks on your skin, especially on your face but also on your arms, shoulders etc:
She had a light sprinkling of freckles across her nose.
birthmark a permanent mark on your skin that you have had since you were born:
There was a small birthmark on her left cheek.
bruise a purple or brown mark on your skin that you get because you have fallen or been hit:
Her legs were covered in cuts and bruises.
scar a permanent mark on your skin, caused by a cut or by something that burns you:
The injury left a small scar on his forehead.
pimple/zit (also spot British English) a small raised red mark or lump on your skin, which usually appears when a child is between 12 and 18 years old:
When I was a teenager I had terrible spots.
The boy had a few pimples under his chin.
wart a small hard raised mark on your skin caused by a virus:
His face was covered in hairy warts.
blister a small area of skin that is swollen and full of liquid because it has been rubbed or burned:
There was a blister on his arm where the boiling milk had splashed him.
rash an area of small red spots on your skin, caused by an illness or an allergy:
I can’t eat strawberries - they give me a rash.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲