Brine

/braɪn/

nounBeginner📊CommonGeneral
2 meanings2 questions

Definitions

2 meanings
1

Water saturated with salt.

/braɪn/

nounneutralBeginner
General

Highly concentrated salt water.

The pickles were submerged in brine for several weeks.

💡 Simply: Salty water.

More Examples

2

Ocean brine is denser than freshwater.

How It's Used

Culinary

"She used brine to cure the olives."

Food Preservation

"The fish were preserved in brine."

2

To soak or preserve in brine.

/braɪn/

verbneutralBeginner
General

To soak in brine.

The chef brined the turkey to keep it moist.

💡 Simply: To soak in salty water.

How It's Used

Food Preparation

"They brined the chicken before roasting it."

Tip:To 'brine' is to bring something into a salty bath.

From Old English *bryne, meaning "salt water". Related to Old Norse *brúnn, meaning "well, spring".

Brine has been used for food preservation since ancient times.

Memory tip

Think of 'brine' as 'bright' salt water, so salty it shines.

Word Origin

LanguageOld English
Original meaning

"salt water"

brine shrimpsalt brine

Common misspellings

brienbrin

Usage

20%Spoken
80%Written