All 4 Uses of
taint
in
Girl Interrupted
- In the world's terms, though, all of us were tainted.
*tainted = spoiled (so as to be undesirable)
- This explains why a general taint is useful.†
taint = to spoil something so it is not desirable
- But these words taint everything.†
- The fact that I was locked up taints everything.†
taints = spoils (so it is not as desirable)
Definitions:
-
(1)
(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
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Much more rarely, taint is used in a non-negative way to refer to a trace of something.