bruise

American  

[brooz] / bruz /

verb (used with object)

bruised, bruising

1. to injure by striking or pressing, without breaking the skin.

   The blow bruised his arm. Her pinching bruised the peaches.

2. to injure or hurt slightly, as with an insult or unkind remark.

   to bruise a person's feelings.

3. to crush (drugs or food) by beating or pounding.

4. Metalworking. to injure the surface of (an ingot or finished object) by collision.

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verb (used without object)

bruised, bruising

1. to develop or bear a discolored spot on the skin as the result of a blow, fall, etc.

2. to become injured slightly.

   His feelings bruise easily.

noun

1. an injury due to bruising; contusion.

bruise British  

/ bruːz /

verb

1. (also intr) to injure (tissues) without breaking the skin, usually with discoloration, or (of tissues) to be injured in this way

2. to offend or injure (someone's feelings) by an insult, unkindness, etc

3. to damage the surface of (something), as by a blow

4. to crush (food, etc) by pounding or pressing

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noun

1. a bodily injury without a break in the skin, usually with discoloration; contusion

Other Word Forms

• unbruised adjective

Etymology

Origin of bruise

before 900; Middle English bro ( o ) sen, bres ( s ) en, bris ( s ) en, bruisen, representing Old English brȳsan, brēsan and Anglo-French bruser, Old French bruisier, akin to briser to break; see brisance

Explanation

If you're just learning to skateboard, you’ve probably got an ugly bruise or two to show for it — those purple and yellow patches you get on your skin where you’ve bumped and scraped. They probably hurt, too! You can find bruises at the grocery store, too — those soft, mushy spots on a peach or an apple — and if you drop a tomato, you're likely to bruise it. You can bruise your knee or bruise someone's feelings — if you tell your friend you don't like her novel, you’ll bruise her ego.

Example Sentences

In the early days after injury, a hematoma or bruise develops at the fracture site.

From Science Daily • Mar. 3, 2026

Three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic had not played since suffering a bone bruise in the left knee he hyperextended in a game against Miami on December 29.

From Barron's • Jan. 31, 2026

If the effort fails, it will be another bruise for an investment firm that recently stumbled in its attempt at another big deal buying the U.K.’s Telegraph and its sister paper the Spectator.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026

As he has pivoted from this declaration a decade later, one would think his ego would bruise from his non-stop insistence that he’s too ignorant for anyone to expect him to know things.

From Salon • Dec. 22, 2025

It was a bit tender, like a fresh bruise.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny

Related Words

• bang up
• batter
• blacken
• crush
• injure
• mar
• wound