brine

noun \ ˈbrīn \

Updated on: 18 Apr 2018

Definition of brine

1 a : water saturated or strongly impregnated with common salt

b : a strong saline solution (as of calcium chloride)

2 : the water of a sea or salt lake

See brine defined for English-language learners

See brine defined for kids

Examples of brine in a Sentence

The chicken was soaked in brine before it was roasted.
for hundreds of years people from Atlantic Canada have made their living from the brine

Recent Examples of brine from the Web

The dish Bison heart pastrami, house-cured in sorghum brine for two weeks.

— elizabeth g. dunn, WSJ, "In Restaurant Trends, What Comes After Farm-to-Table?," 5 Apr. 2018
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation said Tuesday that crews were pretreating roads with brine and magnesium chloride and planning the deployment of spreaders, plows, and maintenance equipment.

— sean smyth, BostonGlobe.com, "Wednesday’s nor’easter could bring 6 to 10 inches of snow to Boston," 20 Mar. 2018
Three came served with kimchee brine, healthy but funky, and overwhelming to the delicate oysters.

— polly campbell, Cincinnati.com, "Muse in Mount Lookout: Fresh, healthy and not quite enough," 9 Feb. 2018
Back Caption Options Close Settings Language English Font Size Small Medium Large Position Auto Bottom Top Sample Caption Text 0:00 0:00 0:00 Brine ‘Em A brine in its simplest iteration is just salt dissolved in water.

— paula forbes, GQ, "How to Make Buffalo Wings That Will Win Your Super Bowl Party," 1 Feb. 2018
Fermenting is a type of pickling, because the salty brine and lactobacilli create their own acidic environment.

— edward lee, Popular Mechanics, "How to Get Started Canning and Pickling Food," 24 Nov. 2016
Remove chicken from brine and dry well with paper towels.

— joan elovitz kazan, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Creative ways to use the Passover staple Matzo," 27 Mar. 2018
For decades, oil field services companies poured millions of gallons of freshwater into the ground to dissolve a thick salt layer and produce brine long used in drilling operations.

— keith schneider, latimes.com, "Here's why New Mexico's oil boom is raising a lot of questions about water," 25 Mar. 2018
The resulting brine is filtered and dried into salt, heated and submitted to a powerful electrical current, producing metal on one side and chlorine gas on the other.

— sandrine rastello and natalie obiko pearson, chicagotribune.com, "Town built on asbestos may find new life in by-product of deadly mineral," 20 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'brine.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of brine

Middle English, from Old English brȳne; akin to Middle Dutch brīne brine

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

brine Synonyms

Synonyms

blue, deep, ocean, sea, seven seas;

Related Words

blue water, high seas, main, waters;

basin;

Davy Jones's locker, depths;

Other Chemical Engineering Terms

alkali, cation, decant, hygroscopic, isotope, oxidize, slurry, solute, viscous

brine

verb

Definition of brine

brined; brining

transitive verb

: to treat (as by steeping) with brine

—

briner

noun

Recent Examples of brine from the Web

To get that healthy bacteria, buy pickles brined in salt water, not vinegar.

— alexandra sifferlin, Time, "10 Foods Filled With Probiotics," 12 Apr. 2018
Dishes will include charred asparagus with country ham and cured egg yolk; brined pork chops with charred green onion bulbs; and snapper grilled with squash, zucchini, and red onion.

— andrew sessa, BostonGlobe.com, "A restaurant idea cooked up at Patriots Day barbecues," 9 Apr. 2018
Last year, the Ducks practiced at Jesuit High School in the spring, brining in approximately 3,000 fans.

— sean meagher, OregonLive.com, "PHOTOS: Oregon Ducks hold scrimmage at Franklin High School," 7 Apr. 2018
No one wanted to pass, because the left lane hadn’t been brined (and because fifty was really fast enough).

— rachel aviv, The New Yorker, "Black Ice, Near-Death, and Transcendence on I-91," 2 Apr. 2018
Salmon is perhaps the simplest dish and the loveliest, brined with salt and sugar, then pan-seared and finished in the oven.

— ligaya mishan, New York Times, "A Menu That Defies Tidy Categorization at Ok Lah!," 1 Mar. 2018
Another new dish is the Chick-Ago sandwich; setting aside the dreadful name, the sandwich of pickle-brined, breaded chicken thighs with tempura sport peppers, tomato and dill aioli sounds pretty tasty.

— phil vettel, chicagotribune.com, "Wrigley Field adds smoker, Garrett Popcorn, Chick-Ago sandwich to 2018 lineup," 28 Mar. 2018
The chef has to brine the chicken for a day in buttermilk, rosemary and hot sauce.

— justin phillips, San Francisco Chronicle, "Minnie Bell’s brings Southern soul to Emeryville," 19 Mar. 2018
The halibut is brined briefly in salt water, which seasons it all the way through.

— Bon Appetit, "Pan-Roasted Halibut with Herbed Corona Beans," 19 Mar. 2018

First Known Use of brine

1552

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

BRINE Defined for English Language Learners

brine

noun

Definition of brine for English Language Learners

: a mixture of salty water used especially to preserve or add flavor to food
: the salty water of the ocean

BRINE Defined for Kids

brine

noun \ ˈbrīn \

Definition of brine for Students

1 : a mixture of salty water used especially to preserve or season food

pickle brine

2 : the salty water of the ocean

Learn More about brine

See words that rhyme with brine Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for brine Spanish Central: Translation of brine Nglish: Translation of brine for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of brine for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about brine

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brine

Definition of brine

Examples of brine in a Sentence

Recent Examples of brine from the Web

Origin and Etymology of brine

brine Synonyms

Synonyms

Related Words

Other Chemical Engineering Terms

brine

Definition of brine

briner

Recent Examples of brine from the Web

First Known Use of brine

BRINE Defined for English Language Learners

brine

Definition of brine for English Language Learners

BRINE Defined for Kids

brine

Definition of brine for Students

Learn More about brine

Seen and Heard

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