Staining

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.


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     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.
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     3. To spot with guilt or infamy; to bring reproach on; to
        blot; to soil; to tarnish.
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              Of honor void,
              Of innocence, of faith, of purity,
              Our wonted ornaments now soiled and stained.
                                                    --Milton.
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     4. To cause to seem inferior or soiled by comparison.
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              She stains the ripest virgins of her age. --Beau. &
                                                    Fl.
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              That did all other beasts in beauty stain.
                                                    --Spenser.
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     {Stained glass}, glass colored or stained by certain metallic
        pigments fused into its substance, -- often used for
        making ornamental windows.
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     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.
            [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  staining
       n 1: (histology) the use of a dye to color specimens for
            microscopic study
       2: the act of spotting or staining something [syn: {spotting},
          {maculation}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  27 Moby Thesaurus words for "staining":
     calcimining, coating, color printing, coloration, coloring,
     covering, dyeing, emblazonry, enameling, fresco, gilding, glazing,
     glossing, illumination, japanning, lithography, painting,
     pigmentation, priming, shellacking, stippling, tinction, tinging,
     tinting, undercoating, varnishing, whitewashing