bruised

Verb

bruise (third-person singular simple present bruises, present participle bruising, simple past and past participle bruised)

1. (transitive) To strike (a person), originally with something flat or heavy, but now specifically in such a way as to discolour the skin without breaking it; to contuse.
   • It is as I have spoken: the testing first, next the bruising, and in the last bout the breaking and killing.1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, pages 25–26
2. (transitive) To damage the skin of (fruit or vegetables), in an analogous way.
3. (intransitive) Of fruit or vegetables, to gain bruises through being handled roughly.
   • Bananas bruise easily.
4. (intransitive) To become bruised.
   • I bruise easily.
5. (intransitive) To fight with the fists; to box.
   • Bruising was considered a fine, manly, old English custom.1854, Arthur Pendennis [pseudonym; William Makepeace Thackeray], The Newcomes: Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], →OCLC
6. (figuratively, transitive) To harm or injure somebody's feelings or self-esteem.
   • Her thoughtless remarks bruised my ego.

See all 9 meanings of bruise