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tarnish

/ˈtɑɹnɪʃ/ verb C2
  1. To oxidize or discolor due to oxidation. (intransitive) · Careful storage of silver will prevent it from tarnishing.
  2. To compromise, damage, soil, or sully. (transitive) · He is afraid that she will tarnish his reputation if he disagrees with her.
  3. To lose its lustre or attraction; to become dull. (figuratively, intransitive)
  4. To use a sign, image, expression, etc. sufficiently close to a trademarked one that it brings disrepute to it.

He/she/it tarnishes · Past tarnished · Past participle tarnished · -ing form tarnishing

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Verb forms

Base form
tarnish
He/she/it
tarnishes
Past
tarnished
Past participle
tarnished
-ing form
tarnishing

From the library

They have allowed all this time to elapse, and then all of a sudden rake up events which have been forgotten to furnish materials for scandal, in order to tarnish the lustre of our high position.
The Count of Monte Cristo, p. 805 · C1

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Words, meanings, pronunciations and translations from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); how common each word is from wordfreq. Made into this dictionary by FluentPlex.