BRINE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does brine mean? 

• BRINE (noun)
  The noun BRINE has 2 senses:

1. water containing salts

2. a strong solution of salt and water used for pickling

  Familiarity information: BRINE used as a noun is rare.

• BRINE (verb)
  The verb BRINE has 1 sense:

1. soak in brine

  Familiarity information: BRINE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BRINE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Water containing salts

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

brine; saltwater; seawater

Context example:

the water in the ocean is all saltwater

Hypernyms ("brine" is a kind of...):

H2O; water (binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent)

Meronyms (substance of "brine"):

atomic number 35; Br; bromine (a nonmetallic heavy volatile corrosive dark brown liquid element belonging to the halogens; found in sea water)

atomic number 53; I; iodin; iodine (a nonmetallic element belonging to the halogens; used especially in medicine and photography and in dyes; occurs naturally only in combination in small quantities (as in sea water or rocks))

atomic number 19; K; potassium (a light soft silver-white metallic element of the alkali metal group; oxidizes rapidly in air and reacts violently with water; is abundant in nature in combined forms occurring in sea water and in carnallite and kainite and sylvite)

atomic number 11; Na; sodium (a silvery soft waxy metallic element of the alkali metal group; occurs abundantly in natural compounds (especially in salt water); burns with a yellow flame and reacts violently in water; occurs in sea water and in the mineral halite (rock salt))

common salt; sodium chloride (a white crystalline solid consisting mainly of sodium chloride (NaCl))

calcium chloride (a deliquescent salt; used in de-icing and as a drying agent)

evaporite (the sediment that is left after the evaporation of seawater)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "brine"):

red tide (seawater that is discolored by large numbers of certain dinoflagellates that produce saxitoxin)

Derivation:

brine (soak in brine)

briny (slightly salty (especially from containing a mixture of seawater and fresh water))

Sense 2

Meaning:

A strong solution of salt and water used for pickling

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Hypernyms ("brine" is a kind of...):

solution (a homogeneous mixture of two or more substances; frequently (but not necessarily) a liquid solution)

Derivation:

brine (soak in brine)

briny (slightly salty (especially from containing a mixture of seawater and fresh water))

• BRINE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they brine    ... he / she / it brines   
Past simple: brined   
Past participle: brined   
-ing form: brining   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Soak in brine

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "brine" is one way to...):

douse; dowse; drench; soak; sop; souse (cover with liquid; pour liquid onto)

Domain category:

cookery; cooking; preparation (the act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

brine (a strong solution of salt and water used for pickling)

brine (water containing salts)

 Context examples 

Brine in regions poleward of about 67.5° to the north and about 72.5° to the south could have oxygen concentrations high enough for simple sponges.

(Simple animals could live in Martian brines, Wikinews)

I wish to foster, not to blight—to earn gratitude, not to wring tears of blood—no, nor of brine: my harvest must be in smiles, in endearments, in sweet—That will do.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

This indicates the ocean is probably an extremely salty brine of water mixed with dissolved salts likely composed of sulfur, sodium and potassium.

(Ocean on Saturn moon could be as salty as the Dead Sea, NASA)

But the Sutton Island salts suggest the water also concentrated into brine.

(NASA's Curiosity Rover Finds an Ancient Oasis on Mars, NASA)

The brines may also play an important role in contemporary biological processes in the Dry Valleys.

(Discovered deep under Antarctic surface: Extensive, salty aquifer and potentially vast microbial habitat, NSF)

The hydrated salts would lower the freezing point of a liquid brine, just as salt on roads here on Earth causes ice and snow to melt more rapidly.

(NASA Confirms Evidence That Liquid Water Flows on Today's Mars, NASA)

This has been proposed for years as a mechanism for possible existence of transient liquid brines at higher latitudes on modern Mars, despite the Red Planet's cold and dry conditions.

(Mars Rover's Weather Data Bolster Case for Brine, NASA)

These features have evoked fascination and controversy since their 2011 discovery, as possible markers for unexpected liquid water or brine on an otherwise dry planet.

(Recurring Martian Streaks: Flowing Sand, Not Water?, NASA)

Well, they went to the bottom, and a nice mermaid welcomed them, but was much grieved on finding the box of headless knights, and kindly pickled them in brine, hoping to discover the mystery about them, for being a woman, she was curious.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

On Earth, similar gullies are formed by flowing liquid water; however, under current conditions, liquid water is transient on the surface of Mars, and may occur only as small amounts of brine even at RSL streaks.

(Mars Gullies Likely Not Formed by Liquid Water, NASA)