v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Stained 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To spot with guilt or infamy; to bring reproach on; to blot; to soil; to tarnish. [ 1913 Webster ]

Of honor void,
Of innocence, of faith, of purity,
Our wonted ornaments now soiled and stained. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To cause to seem inferior or soiled by comparison. [ 1913 Webster ]

She stains the ripest virgins of her age. Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

That did all other beasts in beauty stain. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

Stained glass, glass colored or stained by certain metallic pigments fused into its substance, -- often used for making ornamental windows. [ 1913 Webster ]

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 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 ]

v. i. To give or receive a stain; to grow dim. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A discoloration by foreign matter; a spot; as, a stain on a garment or cloth. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A natural spot of a color different from the gound. [ 1913 Webster ]

Swift trouts, diversified with crimson stains. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Taint of guilt; tarnish; disgrace; reproach. [ 1913 Webster ]

Nor death itself can wholly wash their stains. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Our opinion . . . is, I trust, without any blemish or stain of heresy. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Cause of reproach; shame. Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A tincture; a tinge. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

You have some stain of soldier in you. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Blot; spot; taint; pollution; blemish; tarnish; color; disgrace; infamy; shame. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who stains or tarnishes. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A workman who stains; as, a stainer of wood. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Free from stain; immaculate. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The very care he took to keep his name
Stainless, with some was evidence of shame. Crabbe. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Blameless; spotless; faultless. See Blameless. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a stainless manner. [ 1913 Webster ]