different between befoul vs taint
befoul
English
Etymology
be- +? foul
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /b??fa?l/
- Rhymes: -a?l
Verb
befoul (third-person singular simple present befouls, present participle befouling, simple past and past participle befouled)
- To make foul; to soil; to contaminate, pollute.
- 1846, Charles Dickens, Pictures from Italy, London: for the author, “Avignon to Genoa,” p. 34,[1]
- These heights are a desirable retreat, for less picturesque reasons—as an escape from a compound of vile smells perpetually arising from a great harbour full of stagnant water, and befouled by the refuse of innumerable ships with all sorts of cargoes: which, in hot weather, is dreadful in the last degree.
- 1897, Robert Gwynneddon Davies (translator), The Sleeping Bard by Ellis Wynne, London: Simplkon, Marshall & Co., Part I,[2]
- At last, what with a round of blasphemy, and the whole crowd with clay pistols belching smoke and fire and slander of their neighbours, and the floor already befouled with dregs and spittle, I feared lest viler deeds should happen, and craved to depart.
- 1983, Mary Stewart, The Wicked Day, New York: William Morrow, Chapter 5, p. 53,[3]
- Only the four walls of his home still stood, blackened and smoking with the sluggish, stinking smoke that befouled the sea-wind.
- 1997, Ted Hughes, Tales from Ovid, “Echo and Narcissus” in Paul Keegan (ed.), Ted Hughes: Collected Poems, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003, p. 919,[4]
- There was a pool of perfect water.
- […] No cattle
- Had slobbered their muzzles in it
- And befouled it.
- 1846, Charles Dickens, Pictures from Italy, London: for the author, “Avignon to Genoa,” p. 34,[1]
- (specifically) To defecate on, to soil with excrement.
- 1666, George Alsop, A Character of the Province of Mary-Land, London: Peter Dring, Preface,[5]
- For its an ill Bird will befoule her own Nest […]
- 1748, Tobias Smollett, The Adventures of Roderick Random, London: J. Osborn, Volume I, Chapter 12, p. 91,[6]
- “ […] But pray what smell is that? Sure your lapdog has befoul’d himself;—let me catch hold of the nasty cur, I’ll teach him better manners.”
- 1666, George Alsop, A Character of the Province of Mary-Land, London: Peter Dring, Preface,[5]
- (figuratively) To stain or mar (for example with infamy or disgrace).
- 1894, Hall Caine, The Manxman, London: Heinemann, Part 5, p. 282,[7]
- For three days Pete bore himself according to his wont, thinking to silence the evil tongues of the little world about him, and keep sweet and alive the dear name which they were waiting to befoul and destroy.
- 1923, James Branch Cabell, The High Place, London: John Lane, Part 2, Chapter 15,[8]
- “ […] you combine a vulgar atheism and an iconoclastic desire to befoul the sacred ideas of the average man or woman, collectively scorned as the bourgeoisie——”
- 1927, Frances Noyes Hart, The Bellamy Trial, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1929, Chapter 5, p. 159,[9]
- There she sits before you, gentlemen, betrayed by her husband, befouled by every idle tongue that wags […]
- 1894, Hall Caine, The Manxman, London: Heinemann, Part 5, p. 282,[7]
- To entangle or run against so as to impede motion. (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)
Synonyms
- (stain or mar): besmirch, sully, tarnish
Related terms
- afoul
Translations
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taint
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /te?nt/
- Rhymes: -e?nt
Etymology 1
From Middle French teint, from Old French teint (past participle of teindre (“to dye, to tinge”)), from Latin tinctum (past participle of tingere).
Noun
taint (plural taints)
- A contamination, decay or putrefaction, especially in food
- A mark of disgrace, especially on one's character; blemish
- (obsolete) tincture; hue; colour
- (obsolete) infection; corruption; deprivation
- He had inherited from his ancestors a scrofulous taint, which it was beyond the power of medicine to remove.
- (programming) A marker indicating that a variable is unsafe and should be subjected to additional security checks.
- 2006, Jim Chow, Stanford University. Computer Science Dept, Understanding data lifetime (page 33)
- Using Apache version 1.3.29 and Perl version 5.8.2, we tracked the following sequence of taints […]
- 2006, Jim Chow, Stanford University. Computer Science Dept, Understanding data lifetime (page 33)
Translations
Verb
taint (third-person singular simple present taints, present participle tainting, simple past and past participle tainted)
- (transitive) To contaminate or corrupt (something) with an external agent, either physically or morally.
- (transitive) To spoil (food) by contamination.
- (intransitive) To be infected or corrupted; to be touched by something corrupting.
- (intransitive) To be affected with incipient putrefaction.
- Meat soon taints in warm weather.
- (transitive, computing, programming) To mark (a variable) as unsafe, so that operations involving it are subject to additional security checks.
- (transitive, Australia, finance) To invalidate (a share capital account) by transferring profits into it.
Translations
Related terms
- tainture
Etymology 2
From Middle English taynt, aphetic form of attaynt, atteynt, from Old French atteinte (“a blow, stroke”). Compare with attaint.
Noun
taint (plural taints)
- A thrust with a lance, which fails of its intended effect.
- An injury done to a lance in an encounter, without its being broken; also, a breaking of a lance in an encounter in a dishonorable or unscientific manner.
Translations
Verb
taint (third-person singular simple present taints, present participle tainting, simple past and past participle tainted)
- (transitive) To damage, as a lance, without breaking it; also, to break, as a lance, but usually in an unknightly or unscientific manner.
- 1624, Philip Massinger, The Parliament of Love
- Do not fear; I have / A staff to taint, and bravely.
- 1624, Philip Massinger, The Parliament of Love
- (intransitive) To thrust ineffectually with a lance.
Etymology 3
Reportedly from the phrase “'tain't your balls and 'tain't your ass”. Ascribed to E.E. Landy's Underground Dict. (1972) is the following explanation: ‘'taint their ass and 'taint their pussy.’
Noun
taint (plural taints)
- (US, slang) The perineum.
- 2000 June 17, "Marc Newman" (username), "Re: Americas are overated", in talk.politics.guns, Usenet:
- Sorry you feel that way. But since your mother sucks cocks in hell if I go there I won't be rotting.....I'll be on line right behind you hoping to get another good head job from your Mom or Sister....if you can remember which is which.......(Moms the one with the beard on her taint)
- 2005 July 14, "Noodles Jefferson" (username), "Re: My Wife's Raw Comments", in rec.sport.pro-wrestling, Usenet:
- Even her taint's raw?
- 2010 February 22, "Duchamanos" (username), "Re: Huck Finn 2010-anyone going?", in rec.sport.disc, Usenet:
- Did you know that guy has absolutely no tan lines? He'll show his taint to prove it!
- 2017, John Oliver, Last Week Tonight, HBO:
- Thats right, Alex Jones is trying to sell you sloppy wet rags for your tait [sic]. And-- and when you are done wiping down the area between your genitals and anus with a glorified wet nap...
- And look-- look, this tactical taint wipe has demonstrated incredible results, hasn't it, Doctor?
- 2000 June 17, "Marc Newman" (username), "Re: Americas are overated", in talk.politics.guns, Usenet:
Translations
Etymology 4
Contraction of it ain't.
Contraction
taint
- Alternative spelling of 'taint
References
- taint in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- taint at OneLook Dictionary Search
Anagrams
- Nitta, Tanit, Titan, nitta, tinta, titan
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