Synonyms injure
injure ▪ wound ▪ hurt ▪ bruise ▪ sprain ▪ pull ▪ strain
These words all mean to harm yourself or somebody else physically, especially in an accident.
injure to harm yourself or somebody else physically, especially in an accident: He injured his knee playing hockey.
Three people were injured in the crash.
wound often passive (rather formal) to injure part of the body, especially by making a hole in the skin using a weapon: 50 people were seriously wounded in the attack.
Wound is often used to talk about people being hurt in war or in other attacks that affect a lot of people.
hurt to cause physical pain to somebody/yourself; to injure somebody/yourself: Did you hurt yourself?
injure or hurt?
You can hurt or injure a part of the body in an accident. Hurt emphasizes the physical pain caused; injure emphasizes that the part of the body has been damaged in some way.
bruise to make a blue, brown or purple mark (= a bruise) appear on the skin after somebody has fallen or been hit; to develop a bruisesprain to injure part of your body, especially your ankle, wrist or knee, by suddenly twisting it, causing pain and swellingpull to damage a muscle, etc., by using too much forcestrain to injure yourself or part of your body by making it work too hard: Don’t strain your eyes by reading in poor light.
Patterns
to injure/hurt/strain yourself
to injure/hurt/sprain/pull/strain a muscle
to injure/hurt/sprain your ankle/foot/knee/wrist/hand
to injure/hurt/strain your back/shoulder/eyes
to injure/hurt your spine/neck
to be badly/severely/slightly injured/wounded/hurt/bruised/sprained