wound
injury to the body or skin
An injury to the body where the skin or flesh is cut or broken.
[someone] has a wound to [a body part]
- The doctor cleaned the wound and covered it with a bandage.
- He suffered a gunshot wound to the shoulder during the robbery.
- If you do not wash the wound properly, it may become infected.
- The soldier’s leg wound finally started to heal after surgery.
- She showed the nurse a small wound on her hand from the broken glass.
- He has a deep wound on his arm.
- The nurse touched the wound very carefully.
- Please wash the wound with clean water.
- Her leg wound is getting better now.
to injure someone physically
To hurt someone’s body, usually by a cut, a gun, or another weapon.
[someone/something] wounds [someone/animal]
- Three people were wounded in the attack on the train station.
- The hunter accidentally wounded the deer and then went after it to finish the job.
- Several soldiers were seriously wounded by the explosion.
- She was wounded in the leg when a stray bullet hit her.
- The blast wounded dozens of civilians nearby.
- Two men were wounded in the fight.
- The bomb wounded many people in the market.
- The dog was wounded by a car.
- He was badly wounded in the war.
deep emotional or psychological hurt
Strong emotional pain that someone feels because of what happened or what someone did.
a wound from [an experience or relationship]
- The divorce left a deep wound that took years to heal.
- His harsh words opened an old wound she thought was finally closed.
- The wounds from her childhood continued to affect her relationships as an adult.
- Public criticism can leave emotional wounds that are hard to forget.
- Therapy helped him face the wound of being abandoned by his father.
- Her father’s anger left a big wound in her heart.
- The breakup was a deep wound for him.
- Old emotional wounds can be hard to heal.
- His words left a wound she could not forget.
to hurt someone emotionally
To make someone feel strong emotional pain because of what you say or do.
[someone/something] wounds [someone]'s feelings/pride
- Her careless joke deeply wounded him.
- He felt wounded by their lack of trust.
- The article badly wounded the politician’s pride.
- She was wounded by his decision not to invite her.
- They were wounded by the harsh criticism of their work.
- His words deeply wounded her.
- She felt very wounded by his comment.
- I did not mean to wound your feelings.
- He was wounded when his friends did not support him.
past tense of wind (twist/coil)
Past form of *wind*: to turn or twist something around something, or to move in many bends.
[someone] wound [something] around [something]; [road/river/path] wound through [a place]
- She wound the rope around the tree and pulled tight.
- The narrow road wound through the mountains for many miles.
- He carefully wound the old clock and set the time.
- The river wound gently through the valley below.
- He wound the cable around his arm so it would not drag on the ground.
- The road wound through the forest.
- She wound the scarf around her neck.
- He wound the rope around the box.
- The river wound across the flat land.
- Base: wound
- Plural: wounds
- Base: wound
- 3rd Person Singular: wounds
- Present Participle: wounding
- Past: wounded
a wound to someone's pride
1hurt someone's pride or ego
Something that makes a person feel less good about themselves or less respected.
- Losing the case in court was a serious wound to his pride.
- Her sudden demotion was a wound to her pride more than anything else.
- The criticism was more a wound to his pride than a real problem.
lick your wounds
1quietly recover after failure or hurt
To spend some time alone or quiet after you lose, fail, or get hurt, so you can feel better again.
- After the election defeat, the party leaders went home to lick their wounds.
- He took a few days off to lick his wounds after being rejected for the job.
- She stayed away from social media for a week to lick her wounds.
pick at a wound
1disturb a healing wound repeatedly
To keep touching or pulling at a wound so it cannot heal well; often also used about talking again and again about a painful subject.
- If you keep picking at that wound, it will never heal.
- She told him to stop picking at the old wound of their breakup.
- Talking about it every day is just picking at the wound instead of letting it heal.
salt in the wound
1something that worsens existing hurt
Something that makes a bad or painful situation feel even worse.
- Getting fired was bad enough, but losing his apartment soon after was salt in the wound.
- Her laughter was like salt in the wound after his public mistake.
- The delay was annoying, and the extra fee was just salt in the wound.
reopen old wounds
1make people feel past hurt again
To make someone feel sad, hurt, or upset again by talking about or returning to a painful event from the past.
- Discussing the accident in detail only reopened old wounds for the family.
- Talking about the accident only reopened old wounds for the family.
- The documentary risks reopening old wounds in a community still trying to heal.
- The documentary reopened old wounds for many people who lived through the war.
- He didn’t want to reopen old wounds by mentioning their breakup.
- He didn’t want to reopen old wounds by bringing up their breakup.
rub salt in the wound
1make a bad feeling even worse
To say or do something that makes someone feel even worse about a problem or hurt they already have.
- Losing the game was bad enough, but hearing them laugh was just rubbing salt in the wound.
- Losing the game was hard enough, but his comments afterwards really rubbed salt in the wound.
- Don't rub salt in the wound by talking about her mistake again.
- She didn’t need to rub salt in the wound by reminding him how much money he had lost.
- Publishing the story without asking her first rubbed salt in the wound.
time heals all wounds
1idea that time reduces emotional pain
A saying that means emotional pain will feel less strong after enough time has passed.
- She told him that time heals all wounds and that one day he would feel better.
- People say time heals all wounds, but some losses never completely fade.
- He didn’t believe that time heals all wounds until he noticed he no longer thought about it every day.
time heals all wounds
2time reduces emotional pain
After some time, strong emotional pain usually feels less strong.
- He told her that time heals all wounds, but she did not believe it yet.
- People often say that time heals all wounds, even after very hard experiences.