bruise
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
bruise/bruːz/
▶noun an injury appearing as an area of discoloured skin on the body, caused by a blow or impact rupturing underlying blood vessels.
■ a similar area of damage on a fruit, vegetable, or plant.
▶verb- 1 inflict a bruise on.
■ be susceptible to bruising.
- 2 crush or pound (food).
– origin OE brȳsan ‘crush, injure or damage with a blow’, reinforced in ME by OFr. bruisier ‘break’.
'bruise' also found in these Oxford entries:
