Basic+ Word of the Day: wound

wound (noun, verb) past tense: wounded

A wound is an injury, usually with cutting of skin.

• After Lizzie fell, she had a wound on her knee.
• The nurse changed the bandage on the man's wound.

Wound also means ‘to injure.’

• The gunshot wounded the soldier.

Or ‘to injure or hurt emotionally.’

• The teacher's thoughtless words wounded the boy deeply.
• The allegations in the online review wounded the doctor's reputation.

Don't confuse it with

Wound is also the past tense and past participle of the verb to wind, however this sense of wound is pronounced differently than the injury sense.

Common uses

Time heals all wounds means that when something happens that makes you sad or angry, it will be less painful as time passes.

Did you know?

An open wound is an injury that is still bleeding. It can also be used figuratively. Example: “Don’t ask Cecile about her divorce. That’s still an open wound.”

In pop culture

This is a song about man who cheats on his lovers. A slang term for a person like that is a heel. This song title is a play on words. The common expression, time heals all wounds is explained above. The title of this song, “Time Wounds All Heels” means that he (the heel) will get what he deserves.

There are other meanings of wound.