bruise

Universal Words verb, noun verb 1 to develop a bruise, or make a bruise or bruises appear on the skin of sb/sth: [V] Strawberries bruise easily. * [VN] She had slipped and badly bruised her face. 2 [VN] [usuallypassive] to affect sb badly and make them feel unhappy and less confident: They had been badly bruised by the defeat. bruised adjective: He suffered badly bruised ribs in the crash. * bruised fruit * a bruised ego bruising noun [U]: She suffered severe bruising, but no bones were broken. * internal bruising seealsoBRUISINGadj. noun 1 a blue, brown or purple mark that appears on the skin after sb has fallen, been hit, etc: to be covered in bruises * cuts and bruises * a huge bruise over his eye 2 a mark on a fruit or vegetable where it is damaged