*stain*

v. t. To hinder; to withhold. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whether he abstain men from marrying. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who abstains; esp., one who abstains from the use of intoxicating liquors. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To stain. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. stained with blood; as, a bloodstained shirt; a bloodstained carpet; a bloodstained sidewalk. [ PJC ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Distained p. pr. & vb. n. Distaining. ] [ OE. desteinen, OF. desteindre to take away the color, F. déteindre; pref. des- (L. dis-) + F. teindre to tinge, dye, L. tingere. See Tinge, and cf. Stain. ] To tinge with a different color from the natural or proper one; to stain; to discolor; to sully; to tarnish; to defile; -- used chiefly in poetry. “Distained with dirt and blood.” Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ She ] hath . . . distained her honorable blood. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

The worthiness of praise distains his worth. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. being the seat or source of life; performing a necessary function in the living body; as, the need for life-sustaining air and water.
Syn. -- vital. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

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 ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Sustained p. pr. & vb. n. Sustaining. ] [ OE. sustenen, susteinen, OF. sustenir, sostenir, F. soutenir (the French prefix is properly fr. L. subtus below, fr. sub under), L. sustinere; pref. sus- (see Sub-) + tenere to hold. See Tenable, and cf. Sustenance. ] 1. To keep from falling; to bear; to uphold; to support; as, a foundation sustains the superstructure; a beast sustains a load; a rope sustains a weight. [ 1913 Webster ]

Every pillar the temple to sustain. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence, to keep from sinking, as in despondence, or the like; to support. [ 1913 Webster ]

No comfortable expectations of another life to sustain him under the evils in this world. Tillotson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To maintain; to keep alive; to support; to subsist; to nourish; as, provisions to sustain an army. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To aid, comfort, or relieve; to vindicate. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

His sons, who seek the tyrant to sustain. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To endure without failing or yielding; to bear up under; as, to sustain defeat and disappointment. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To suffer; to bear; to undergo. [ 1913 Webster ]

Shall Turnus, then, such endless toil sustain? Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

You shall sustain more new disgraces. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To allow the prosecution of; to admit as valid; to sanction; to continue; not to dismiss or abate; as, the court sustained the action or suit. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. To prove; to establish by evidence; to corroborate or confirm; to be conclusive of; as, to sustain a charge, an accusation, or a proposition. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To support; uphold; subsist; assist; relieve; suffer; undergo. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, upholds or sustains; a sustainer. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I waked again, for my sustain was the Lord. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. soutenable, OF. soustenable. ] Capable of being sustained or maintained; as, the action is not sustainable. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Held up to a certain pitch, degree, or level; uniform; as, sustained pasion; a sustained style of writing; a sustained note in music. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, sustains. Waterland. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of sustaining; maintenance; support. Milton. Lowell. [ 1913 Webster ]