To Taint. v.a. [teindre, French.]
- To imbue or impregnate with any thing.
The spaniel struck
Stiff by the tainted gale, with open nose
Draws full upon the latent prey. Thomson. - To stain; to sully.
We come not by the way of accusation
To taint that honour every good tongue blesses. Shakesp.Sirens taint
The minds of all men, whom they can acquaint
With their attractions. Chapman's Odyssey, b. xii.They the truth
With superstitions and traditions taint. Milton.Those pure immortal elements
Eject him tainted now, and purge him off
As a distemper. Milton. - To infect.
Nothing taints sound lungs sooner than inspiring the breath of consumptive lungs. Harvey on Consumptions.
Salts in fumes contract the vesicles, and perhaps the tainted air may affect the lungs by its heat. Arbuthnot on Air.
With wholesome herbage mixt, the direful bane
Of vegetable venom taints the plain. Pope. - To corrupt.
A sweet-bread you found it tainted or fly-blown. Swift.
The yellow tinging plague
Internal vision taints. Thomson's Spring. - A corrupt contraction of attaint.
