injury

An injury is usually harm done to the body. It might be a cut, a bruise, a twisted ankle, or a broken bone after a fall, an accident, or a sports game. When people use this word in everyday English, they are most often talking about physical damage that causes pain or needs time to heal.

You might sustain an injury in a match, suffer an injury in a car crash, or recover from an injury after surgery. In some contexts, especially legal or formal ones, the word can also mean harm done in a broader sense, such as damage to a person's rights, feelings, or reputation. Still, the main idea is usually physical harm.

The word "injury" most often means physical harm to a person or animal. It covers many kinds of bodily damage, from small problems like cuts, bruises, and sprains to serious cases like burns, broken bones, or head trauma. If someone says, "He suffered a knee injury at work," the meaning is clear: something happened to his body, and it caused damage or pain.

This is the most common use of the word in daily life, medicine, sports, and news reports. People talk about minor injuries and serious injuries, preventing injuries, or recovering from injuries. Common word partners include sustain an injury, suffer an injury, treat an injury, and heal from an injury. The word often suggests that the harm was caused by an event such as a fall, a crash, violence, or repeated strain.

The word can also appear in broader or more formal uses. In legal language, it may mean harm done to a person's rights, property, or interests. In careful or literary writing, someone may speak of an injury to their pride, feelings, or reputation. These uses are real, but they are less common than the physical sense and usually depend on the context around the word.

So in most cases, "injury" brings to mind bodily harm that needs care or healing, while in some formal or figurative contexts it can also refer to other kinds of harm.