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Tarnish
Definitions
- 1 Oxidation or discoloration, especially of a decorative metal exposed to air. uncountable, usually
"1918, Hannah Teresa Rowley, Mrs. Helen Louise (Wales) Farrell, Principles of Chemistry Applied to the Household Precipitated calcium carbonate, a very fine powdery form, is used as a basis for many tooth powders and pastes. As whiting it finds a wide use in cleaning metals of their tarnishes."
- 2 discoloration of metal surface caused by oxidation wordnet
- 1 To oxidize or discolor due to oxidation. intransitive
"Careful storage of silver will prevent it from tarnishing."
- 2 make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air; also used metaphorically wordnet
- 3 To compromise, damage, soil, or sully. transitive
"He is afraid that she will tarnish his reputation if he disagrees with her."
- 4 To lose its lustre or attraction; to become dull. figuratively, intransitive
"Till thy freſh Glories, which now ſhine ſo bright, / Grow Stale and Tarniſh with our dayly ſight."
- 5 To use a sign, image, expression, etc. sufficiently close to a trademarked one that it brings disrepute to it.
Etymology
From Middle English ternysshen, from Old French terniss-, stem of ternir (“to make dim, make wan”), borrowed from Old High German *ternen, tarnen, from Proto-West Germanic *darnijan (“to conceal”). Doublet of dern and darn.
From Middle English ternysshen, from Old French terniss-, stem of ternir (“to make dim, make wan”), borrowed from Old High German *ternen, tarnen, from Proto-West Germanic *darnijan (“to conceal”). Doublet of dern and darn.
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