Definition of bruise noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

bruise

noun

/bruːz/

a blue, brown or purple mark that appears on the skin after somebody has fallen, been hit, etc.
- His legs were covered in bruises.
- She suffered only minor cuts and bruises.
- a huge bruise over his eye
Synonyms injure
injurewound ▪ hurt ▪ bruise ▪ sprain ▪ pull ▪ strainThese words all mean to harm yourself or somebody else physically, especially in an accident.
injure to harm yourself or somebody else physically, especially in an accident:
He injured his knee playing hockey.
Three people were injured in the crash.
wound [often passive] (rather formal) to injure part of the body, especially by making a hole in the skin using a weapon:
50 people were seriously wounded in the attack.
Wound is often used to talk about people being hurt in war or in other attacks that affect a lot of people.hurt to cause physical pain to somebody/yourself; to injure somebody/yourself:
Did you hurt yourself?
injure or hurt?You can hurt or injure a part of the body in an accident. Hurt emphasizes the physical pain caused; injure emphasizes that the part of the body has been damaged in some way.
bruise to make a blue, brown or purple mark (= a bruise) appear on the skin after somebody has fallen or been hit; to develop a bruisesprain to injure part of your body, especially your ankle, wrist or knee, by suddenly twisting it, causing pain and swellingpull to damage a muscle, etc., by using too much forcestrain to injure yourself or part of your body by making it work too hard:
Don’t strain your eyes by reading in poor light.
Patterns
- to injure/hurt/strain yourself
- to injure/hurt/sprain/pull/strain a muscle
- to injure/hurt/sprain your ankle/foot/knee/wrist/hand
- to injure/hurt/strain your back/shoulder/eyes
- to injure/hurt your spine/neck
- to be badly/severely/slightly injured/wounded/hurt/bruised/sprained
Extra Examples
- Minor bruises can be treated at home.
- He had a huge bruise on his knee.
- She was treated for minor cuts and bruises.
- Their bodies were covered with bruises.
Topics Health problemsb2
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- black
- dark
- livid
- …
verb + bruise
- have
- sport
- leave
- …
bruise + verb
- appear
- form
- fade
- …
phrases
- cuts and bruises
See full entry
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a mark on a fruit or vegetable where it is damaged

Word OriginOld English brȳsan ‘crush or injure with a blow’, reinforced in Middle English by Old French bruisier ‘break’.

See bruise in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

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bruise verb

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trait

noun

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