hemorrhage

American  

[hem-er-ij, hem-rij] / ˈhɛm ər ɪdʒ, ˈhɛm rɪdʒ /

noun

• hemorrhages
  plural

1. a profuse discharge of blood, as from a ruptured blood vessel; bleeding.

2. the loss of assets, especially in large amounts.

3. any widespread or uncontrolled loss or diffusion.

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verb (used without object)

hemorrhaged, hemorrhaging

1. to bleed profusely.

2. to lose assets, especially in large amounts.

verb (used with object)

hemorrhaged, hemorrhaging

1. to lose (assets).

   a company that was hemorrhaging money.

hemorrhage Scientific  

/ hĕm′ər-ĭj /

1. Excessive or uncontrollable bleeding, often caused by trauma, surgical or obstetrical complications, or the advanced stages of certain illnesses, such as cirrhosis and peptic ulcer disease.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hemorrhagic
  adjective
• posthemorrhagic
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• hemorrhages
  plural

Etymology

Origin of hemorrhage

1665–75; < Latin haemorrhagia < Greek haimorrhagía. See hemo-, -rrhagia

Explanation

Medically speaking, a hemorrhage is a rapid loss of blood. If you fall and hit your head really hard, the doctors will check to see there's no cerebral hemorrhage, or bleeding in your brain. Hemorrhage is pronounced HEM-or-edge. Blame the Greeks for the funny spelling, because like many medical terms, this one comes from Greek roots. Besides the medical meaning, we use hemorrhage to mean the uncontrollable loss of other things. If sudden disaster is making you hemorrhage money, you'll have to cut back on fancy dinners and new shoes. Can I recommend frozen pizza?

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hemorrhage hemorrhages hemorrhaged hemorrhaging

Kikuo Hatakeyama, 72, has served as the mayor of Hachirogata in north-east Japan since 2008, but fell ill in February and suffered a brain hemorrhage.

From BBC ● May 9, 2026

The researchers also found strong evidence that daily aspirin increases the risk of serious extracranial hemorrhage and likely raises the risk of hemorrhagic stroke.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 4, 2026

Gary Coleman died in May 2010 at age 42 after suffering a brain hemorrhage in an accidental fall at his home in Utah.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 15, 2026

Doctors found that he had suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage resulting from a ruptured brain aneurysm.

From Slate ● Dec. 8, 2025

Katie had such a fit of giggling that she was afraid she’d bring on a hemorrhage.

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith

Monoclonal antibodies that are indicated for the early treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, for example, have a risk of brain hemorrhages and bleeds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026

Fluffy white clouds and red hemorrhages, the work of cytomegalovirus, bloomed across patients’ retinas until they went blind.

From Slate ● Jan. 31, 2025

For the study, researchers looked at 4,879 people who had ruptured brain aneurysms, called aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhages.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 5, 2024

She helps singers dealing with polyps, nodules, hemorrhages, cysts, acid reflux, vocal fold swelling.

From New York Times ● Feb. 7, 2024

As Alexei grew older, and the hemorrhages more life threatening, Alexandra began to rely on a Russian monk of legendary unctuousness, Grigory Rasputin, who promised to heal the czar-to-be.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

The early days were rife with failure and the operation hemorrhaged money.

From Barron's ● May 20, 2026

Now, with LIV’s Saudi backers on the brink of turning off the spigot for a business that has hemorrhaged cash, the future is even murkier.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026

For almost 90 miles, he pushed the other plane as both jets hemorrhaged fuel, until they crossed the border with Laos.

From New York Times ● Dec. 21, 2023

I started my career at local newspapers, which hemorrhaged revenue as advertising moved online.

From Slate ● Dec. 3, 2023

They had both hemorrhaged badly, and blood plasma was in short supply our needs being low on the wartime priority list.

From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston

As the Times story and a recent report in the Wall Street Journal make clear, Martin is also hemorrhaging the party’s confidence and loyalty.

From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026

Not every denomination is hemorrhaging, but they’re all bleeding.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026

The next morning, while the former chef was still in Palm Springs, the filing states that she awoke experiencing severe hemorrhaging and drove herself to the emergency room.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026

Misoprostol has been available by prescription for decades as a treatment for stomach ulcers and to manage postpartum hemorrhaging.

From BBC ● May 1, 2026

The metaphorical potency of Alexei’s illness was also undeniable—symptomatic of an empire gone sick, dependent on bandages and prayers, hemorrhaging at its core.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

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