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Stain vs Stair - What's the difference?

stain | stair |

As nouns the difference between stain and stair

is that stain is while stair is a single step in a staircase.

stain

English

(wikipedia stain)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A discoloured spot or area.
  • A blemish on one's character or reputation.
  • A substance used to soak into a surface and colour it.
  • A reagent or dye used to stain microscope specimens so as to make some structures visible.
  • Derived terms

    * (l) * Giemsa stain * Leishman stain * Romanowsky stain * Wright-Giemse stain * Wright's stain

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To discolour something
  • to stain the hand with dye
    armour stained with blood
  • To taint or tarnish someone's character or reputation
  • * Milton
  • Of honour void, / Of innocence, of faith, of purity, / Our wonted ornaments now soiled and stained .
  • To coat a surface with a stain
  • to stain wood with acids, coloured washes, paint rubbed in, etc.
    the stained glass used for church windows
  • To treat a microscope specimen with a dye
  • To cause to seem inferior or soiled by comparison.
  • * Beaumont and Fletcher
  • She stains the ripest virgins of her age.
  • * Spenser
  • that did all other beasts in beauty stain

    Anagrams

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    stair

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A single step in a staircase.
  • A series of steps, a staircase.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1899, author=(Hughes Mearns)
  • , title= , passage=Yesterday, upon the stair  / I met a man who wasn’t there / He wasn’t there again today / I wish, I wish he’d go away …}}

    Usage notes

    * Stairs'' and ''stair are used to refer to a single staircase, mostly interchangeably in the UK.

    Derived terms

    * above-stairs * upstairs * downstairs * stair-stepping * staircase * stairs * stairway * stairwell

    See also

    * ladder * landing

    Anagrams

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