port-wine stain
- noun
- /pɔrt waɪn steɪn/
- Specialized
:
mancha de vino de Oporto
- The doctor explained that a port-wine stain is a type of birthmark caused by dilated blood vessels.
Examples
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FLH has also been reported to be associated with macrodactyly and port-wine stains (46).
Academic text (2015) -
Doctors don't know what causes port wine stains.
Academic text (2010) -
Look at that port wine stain on his forehead.
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You don't have a port wine stain on your upper lip.
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"He did not say this angrily, although his own face had a terrible port-wine stain.
Fiction book (1997) -
I looked at the port-wine stain on my grey serge.
Fiction book (1991) -
What causes port-wine-stain birthmarks?
Academic text (2010) -
Many people with a port-wine stain feel self-conscious about their appearance.
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A port-wine stain on her arm was a unique feature that made her stand out.
Synonyms
43
1.3
A mark on the skin you are born with that has a different color or feel
A flat pink to purple mark on the skin present at birth, often called a port-wine stain
How Noticeable
Surface Forms
Morphology
port-wine + stain
The phrase combines a color label ('port-wine' = the deep red/purple color associated with port wine) with 'stain' (a mark), so its meaning as a mark/spot that has a port-wine colour is directly compositional. Although 'port-wine' as a lexicalized color may be less familiar to some learners, the noun+modifier pattern is transparent and a B1 learner who knows the constituents can infer it refers to a reddish-purple mark (in context, a birthmark).
Etymology
Port-wine stain comes from the dark red wine called port and the word stain because the birthmark looks like a permanent splash of that wine on the skin. So, it now means 'a red birthmark'.