bruising

/ˈbɹuːzɪŋ/

bruising is the present participle and gerund of bruise.

Adjective

bruising (comparative more bruising, superlative most bruising)

That bruises.
Wearisome, arduous.
- Instead England produced something that felt a little transgressive in this most controlled of stages, tightening their grip in a bruising first half, before freewheeling downhill in the second with their feet up on the handlebars.2022 November 21, Barney Ronay, “Iran’s brave and powerful gesture is a small wonder from a World Cup of woe”, in The Guardian

bruising (plural bruisings)

(slang) A violent physical attack on a person.
- You'd better shut up or you'll get a bruising.
Bruises on a person's skin.
- […] on October 29, 1888, the Russian imperial train was derailed at Borki by defective track, and twenty-one persons were killed. Although these did not include the Emperor Alexander III, who escaped with a bruising, a footman serving coffee to him at the critical moment, and his dog, which was...1945 September and October, C. Hamilton Ellis, “Royal Trains—V”, in Railway Magazine, pages 251–252
- Of the nine staff in the third coach, most had been having a break, drinking tea or reading. One suffered a fractured skull, another a fractured shoulder. All were either thrown along or across the coach, sustaining cuts, bruising and whiplash injuries.2026 March 18, Greg Morse, “1996 crash driving freight reforms”, in RAIL, number 1057, page 50

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

(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
(transitive) To damage the skin of (fruit or vegetables), in an analogous way.
(intransitive) Of fruit or vegetables, to gain bruises through being handled roughly.
- Bananas bruise easily.
(intransitive) To become bruised.
- I bruise easily.
(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
(figuratively, transitive) To harm or injure somebody's feelings or self-esteem.
- Her thoughtless remarks bruised my ego.

From bruise + -ing.

What does bruising mean?: Bruising means that bruises.
What is bruising the present participle and gerund of?: Bruising is the present participle and gerund of bruise.
What part of speech is bruising?: Bruising can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce bruising?: Bruising is pronounced /ˈbɹuːzɪŋ/.

Adapted from Wiktionary: bruising (page history and authors); bruise (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-bruising.ogg.

Cite this entry: “bruising.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bruising. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.