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Taint   /teɪnt/   Listen
noun
Taint  n.  
1.
A thrust with a lance, which fails of its intended effect. (Obs.) "This taint he followed with his sword drawn from a silver sheath."
2.
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. (Obs.)



Taint  n.  
1.
Tincture; hue; color; tinge. (Obs.)
2.
Infection; corruption; deprivation. "He had inherited from his parents a scrofulous taint, which it was beyond the power of medicine to remove."
3.
A blemish on reputation; stain; spot; disgrace.



verb
Taint  v. t.  
1.
To injure, as a lance, without breaking it; also, to break, as a lance, but usually in an unknightly or unscientific manner. (Obs.) "Do not fear; I have A staff to taint, and bravely."
2.
To hit or touch lightly, in tilting. (Obs.) "They tainted each other on the helms and passed by."



Taint  v. t.  
1.
To imbue or impregnate with something extraneous, especially with something odious, noxious, or poisonous; hence, to corrupt; to infect; to poison; as, putrid substance taint the air.
2.
Fig.: To stain; to sully; to tarnish. "His unkindness may defeat my life, But never taint my love."
Synonyms: To contaminate; defile; pollute; corrupt; infect; disease; vitiate; poison.



Taint  v. t.  Aphetic form of Attaint.



Taint  v. i.  (past & past part. tainted; pres. part. tainting)  To thrust ineffectually with a lance. (Obs.)



Taint  v. i.  
1.
To be infected or corrupted; to be touched with something corrupting. "I can not taint with fear."
2.
To be affected with incipient putrefaction; as, meat soon taints in warm weather.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Taint" Quotes from Famous Books



... puis—Prince ne veux—Rohan je suis," is one which is theoretically strong among the country squires of England, the possessors of the bluest blood and longest deeds of hereditary lands; but the snobbishness of the nineteenth century is practically apt to taint the younger branches when they read of garden-parties given by the royal princes or balls where duchesses and cabinet ministers are as plentiful as blackberries. Their great-grandmothers, it is true, were sometimes troubled with the same longings, for among the many proclamations against ...
— Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 22. October, 1878. • Various

... share— Brahma, the ruler of the sky, Sthanu, Narayan, Lord most high, And holy Indra men might view With Maruts for his retinue; The heavenly chorister, and saint, And spirit pure from earthly taint, With one accord had sought the place The high-souled monarch's rite to grace, Then to the Gods who came to take Their proper share, the hermit spake:— "For you has Dasaratha slain The votive steed, a son to gain; Stern penance-rites ...
— Hindu Literature • Epiphanius Wilson

... you laugh," Mrs. Burke responded, chuckling to herself. "'Taint polite to look surprised when a woman says she's a-goin' to get married. Every woman under ninety-eight has expectations. While there's life there's hope that some man will make a fool of himself. But unless I miss my guess, you don't catch me surrenderin' ...
— Hepsey Burke • Frank Noyes Westcott

... Spartan, the Roman of "the brave days of old" was often stern, and even brutal, towards his enemies. But he was a devoted patriot, he was true to his plighted faith, and above all he was free from all taint of pecuniary corruption. The earlier history of both nations is full of legends illustrating these points, which, whether individually true or not, bear abundant testimony to the national ideal. But with irresponsible power, Roman and Spartan alike, while remaining as brutally indifferent ...
— Early Britain--Roman Britain • Edward Conybeare

... the midst of his task, the bear stopped and lifted his muzzle to the wind. What was that new taint upon the air? It was one almost unknown to him,—but one which he instinctively dreaded, though without any reason based directly upon experience of his own. At almost any other time, indeed, he would have taken the ...
— The Watchers of the Trails - A Book of Animal Life • Charles G. D. Roberts


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