Both Uses of
taint
in
David Copperfield
- The gloomy taint that was in the Murdstone blood, darkened the Murdstone religion, which was austere and wrathful.†
Chpt 4-6 *
- 'And when I came to you, that night, to lay down all my load of shame and grief, and knew that I had to tell that, underneath your roof, one of my own kindred, to whom you had been a benefactor, for the love of me, had spoken to me words that should have found no utterance, even if I had been the weak and mercenary wretch he thought me — my mind revolted from the taint the very tale conveyed.†
Chpt 43-45
Definition:
-
(taint) to spoil something so it is not desirable -- as when bacteria contaminates a food; or as when a rumor makes people distrust a person