Stain \Stain\ (st[=a]n), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Stained} (st[=a]nd); p. pr. & vb. n. {Staining}.] [Abbrev. fr. distain.] 1. To discolor by the application of foreign matter; to make foul; to spot; as, to stain the hand with dye; armor stained with blood.
2. To color, as wood, glass, paper, cloth, or the like, by processes affecting, chemically or otherwise, the material itself; to tinge with a color or colors combining with, or penetrating, the substance; to dye; as, to stain wood with acids, colored washes, paint rubbed in, etc.; to stain glass.
3. To spot with guilt or infamy; to bring reproach on; to blot; to soil; to tarnish.
Of honor void, Of innocence, of faith, of purity, Our wonted ornaments now soiled and stained. --Milton.
4. To cause to seem inferior or soiled by comparison.
She stains the ripest virgins of her age. --Beau. & Fl.
That did all other beasts in beauty stain. --Spenser.
{Stained glass}, glass colored or stained by certain metallic pigments fused into its substance, -- often used for making ornamental windows.
Syn: To paint; dye; blot; soil; sully; discolor; disgrace; taint.
Usage: {Paint}, {Stain}, {Dye}. These denote three different processes; the first mechanical, the other two, chiefly chemical. To paint a thing is to spread a coat of coloring matter over it; to stain or dye a thing is to impart color to its substance. To stain is said chiefly of solids, as wood, glass, paper; to dye, of fibrous substances, textile fabrics, etc.; the one, commonly, a simple process, as applying a wash; the other more complex, as fixing colors by mordants.
Stain \Stain\, v. i. To give or receive a stain; to grow dim.
Stain \Stain\, n. 1. A discoloration by foreign matter; a spot; as, a stain on a garment or cloth. --Shak.
2. A natural spot of a color different from the gound.
Swift trouts, diversified with crimson stains. --Pope.
3. Taint of guilt; tarnish; disgrace; reproach.
Nor death itself can wholly wash their stains. --Dryden.
Our opinion . . . is, I trust, without any blemish or stain of heresy. --Hooker.
"I think that this really has to be cleared up before we can see a new Bulgaria because it is a stain on its reputation," Markov's widow, Annabel, said in an interview with BBC-TV.
Once a manager's copybook has been blotted it takes a long time for the stain to be removed from Lord Weinstock's memory. He expects other people to do their jobs without being told how to.
The stain wears off your hands in a few days, but repeated trips to the dry cleaner fail to eradicate the dress spot.
The resignation of his finance minister after allegations of irregularities added another stain to the party's image and one of the most popular Communists, Mayor Wolfgang Berghofer of Dresden, has left the party.
The largest group, 50 members of the Temple Mount Faithful, carried the French tricolor flag marked with a black stain.
With a little work, you can match almost any stain using these three colors.
"Most policeman would tell you they can't stomach this kind of thing," says Lyman Doster, a narcotics officer. "Some of us feel betrayed." Chief Gates says one incident should not stain the reputation of the entire department.
But an overflight Friday by a Coast Guard marine safety officer discovered the spill was only two miles long and a quarter-mile wide, and in some places was only a light stain.
The Jesse Helms-sponsored Art Police would shut down an exhibit of early American quilts after they find a menstrual stain.
Among measures taken to clean their international image of the dark stain of human rights abuses, the Soviets have set up a human rights committee that is spreading the word that Moscow has shifted its policies.
Nevertheless, many industry executives believe any indictments against Arctic Alaska could be a costly stain on the company.
From its adhesive and coating technologies came items as diverse as magnetic recording tape, carpet stain preventers and surgical drapes, which cover the patient to prevent infection.
Public defenders in Washington commissioned DNA tests that recently exonerated a man whose rape conviction was overturned because his DNA did not match that taken from a semen stain found on the woman's clothing.
At a weekly prayer meeting in Tehran, Khamenei said the resolutions "are a disgrace to the Arab world" and "will remain as a stain of shame on the skirts of the Arab reactionary leaders forever."
After the stain has been applied and given sufficient drying time, the surface can be prepared for coating with the polyurethane. Lightly sand the stained surface with 220 sandpaper.
In neither case would there be an iota of riba, a stain of sham.
If you paint the first time, you cannot stain later without removing the paint, which can be a messy job on shakes or shingles.
If you have trouble matching the patch with a stained surface, mix a combination of maple, mahogany and walnut stain with the patching compond.
Jeffreys had said earlier the stain was too old to prove Dotson's guilt or innocence using his own methods.
But Rosenbluth's idea of a great vacation is someplace where you're overdressed if you wear anything other than a T-shirt with a stain on it.
One was bleeding enough to stain the ice and surrounding water.
But the former attorney general said Agnew's resignation and the stain on his reputation were punishment enough.
US newspapers which have tested Kenaf newsprint report that it is brighter, reproduces better pictures, and uses less ink, which does not stain hands. Africa's environmental problems are often portrayed in doomsday tones.