staining

5 definitions • 6 examples

present participle of

to leave a mark on something that is difficult to remove:

Tomato sauce stains terribly - it's really difficult to get it out of clothes.

While she was changing the wheel on her car, her coat had become stained with oil.

If a material stains, it absorbs substances easily, causing it to become covered with marks, or coloured by a chemical:

This carpet is ideal for the kitchen because it doesn't stain easily.

to change the colour of something using a chemical:

She stripped the floorboards and stained them dark brown.

to permanently spoil something such as someone's reputation:

Several important politicians have had their reputations stained by this scandal.

The country's history is stained with the blood of (= the country is guilty of killing) millions of innocent men and women.