Syn. — To paint; dye; blot; soil; sully; discolor; disgrace; taint. — Paint, Stain, Dye. These denote three different processes; the first mechanical, the other two, chiefly chemical. To paint a thing is so 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.
Defn: 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.
4. Cause of reproach; shame. Sir P. Sidney.
5. A tincture; a tinge. [R.] You have some stain of soldier in you. Shak.
Syn. — Blot; spot; taint; pollution; blemish; tarnish; color; disgrace; infamy; shame.