Question: I was reading a book and I saw the word "stains" in a sentence. Here is the sentence: 

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> Out of the shed came a long, low, yellow-and-brown animal. There were red, wet *stains* around its mouth and neck.
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Source: ["Tooth and Claw"](http://www.okread.info/read.php?ys=1&d=sc/ychzz/005&ch=1). 

I looked up the defintion of it but I can't decide which one is used in this sentence. Here are the definitions:

1. a discoloration produced by foreign matter having penetrated into or chemically reacted with a material; a spot not easily removed.
2. a natural spot or patch of color different from that of the basic color, as on the body of an animal.
3. a cause of reproach; stigma; blemish:

Which one could it be?

Thanks

Answer: 
The description of the stains as "wet" indicates that this is something like meaning 1; but it is not literally that definition, because this is not a discolouration that has become embedded permanently into some material, but some coloured matter that is visible on the surface. Since the matter is clearly blood, there is a hint of meaning 3 here as well. 

This use does not correspond precisely to any of the definitions, even in the Oxford English Dictionary - it is somewhat allusive, a bit of a metaphor.
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> red, wet stains around its mouth and neck.
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As a reader, I would interpret that as if the animal has hunted or fought, and those **stains are that of blood**, or might have tried to drink some liquid which has a red colouration.

As the mouth and neck are stained red, it might well be a hunt or a very bad fight.

The second interpretation is because blood isn't generally described by the *wet* adjective, or it is very rarely done.

So, it should be your first guess, which is:

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> a discoloration produced by foreign matter having penetrated into or
>  chemically reacted with a material; a spot not easily removed.
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