bleed
Americanverb (used without object)
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to lose blood from the vascular system, either internally into the body or externally through a natural orifice or break in the skin.
to bleed from the mouth.
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(of injured tissue, excrescences, etc.) to exude blood.
a wart that is bleeding.
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(of a plant) to exude sap, resin, etc., from a wound.
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(of dye or paint) to run or become diffused.
All the colors bled when the dress was washed.
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(of a liquid) to ooze or flow out.
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to feel pity, sorrow, or anguish.
My heart bleeds for you. A nation bleeds for its dead heroes.
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to suffer wounds or death, as in battle.
The soldiers bled for the cause.
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(of a broadcast signal) to interfere with another signal.
CB transmissions bleeding over into walkie-talkies.
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Printing. (of printed matter) to run off the edges of a page, either by design or through mutilation caused by too close trimming.
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Slang. to pay out money, as when overcharged or threatened with extortion.
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Metallurgy. (of a cooling ingot or casting) to have molten metal force its way through the solidified exterior because of internal gas pressure.
verb (used with object)
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to cause to lose blood, especially surgically.
Doctors no longer bleed their patients to reduce fever.
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to lose or emit (blood or sap).
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to drain or draw sap, water, electricity, etc., from (something).
to bleed a pipeline of excess air.
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to remove trapped air from (as an automotive brake system) by opening a bleeder valve.
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to obtain an excessive amount from; extort money from.
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Printing.
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to permit (printed illustrations or ornamentation) to run off the page or sheet.
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to trim the margin of (a book or sheet) so closely as to mutilate the text or illustration.
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noun
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Printing.
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a sheet or page margin trimmed so as to mutilate the text or illustration.
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a part thus trimmed off.
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Medicine/Medical. an instance of bleeding; hemorrhage.
an intracranial bleed.
adjective
verb phrase
idioms
verb
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(intr) to lose or emit blood
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(tr) to remove or draw blood from (a person or animal)
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(intr) to be injured or die, as for a cause or one's country
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(of plants) to exude (sap or resin), esp from a cut
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informal (tr) to obtain relatively large amounts of money, goods, etc, esp by extortion
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(tr) to draw liquid or gas from (a container or enclosed system)
to bleed the hydraulic brakes
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(intr) (of dye or paint) to run or become mixed, as when wet
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to print or be printed so that text, illustrations, etc, run off the trimmed page
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(tr) to trim (the edges of a printed sheet) so closely as to cut off some of the printed matter
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(intr) civil engineering building trades (of a mixture) to exude (a liquid) during compaction, such as water from cement
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to extort gradually all the resources of a person or thing
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used to express sympathetic grief, but often used ironically
noun
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printing
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an illustration or sheet trimmed so that some matter is bled
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( as modifier )
a bleed page
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printing the trimmings of a sheet that has been bled
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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bleedsimple
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bleedssimple
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have bledperfect
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has bledperfect
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am bleedingprogressive
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are bleedingprogressive
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is bleedingprogressive
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have been bleedingperfect progressive
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has been bleedingperfect progressive
Past
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bledsimple
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had bledperfect
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was bleedingprogressive
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were bleedingprogressive
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had been bleedingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bleed
before 1000; Middle English bleden, Old English blēdan, derivative of blōd blood
Explanation
When you bleed, blood runs or oozes out of your body. Cutting your finger when you're chopping vegetables can make you bleed. Some kind of illness or injury, particularly one that cuts or scrapes your skin, can make you bleed. In long ago days of medical care, doctors would deliberately bleed patients to treat specific conditions, though today we mainly bleed due to accidents. You can also use bleed to mean "drain of money or resources," as when a greedy relative bleeds his wealthy grandmother, using her fortune to buy himself fancy cars.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"I'd grown up around it, we used to joke that if you cut my dad, he'd bleed khaki," she says.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
WSJLI: So is the hope that you are shifting the culture and injecting Oatly into drink culture in these bigger markets, then having that bleed into the consumer mindset across the board?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
It can’t be all of them, because there’s some pretty serious theological differences that invariably bleed into politics.
From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026
Weak retail demand can bleed into the institutional market through Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, too.
From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 2026
Then Colonel Jaax put her to work at the bleed table with Captain Haines, and presently she began drawing blood from unconscious monkeys.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
A kick drum bleeds into a vocal mic.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
The curious light of gloaming makes the landscape alien to us as color bleeds slowly away.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
“If it bleeds, it leads” is no more, replaced by something that stinks in its own way.
From Slate ● Apr. 7, 2026
"Basketball is what he eats, sleeps, bleeds," Bickerstaff said.
From Barron's ● Feb. 12, 2026
The thread’s cheap dye bleeds into the fabric.
From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau
Hefty selling on Wall Street bled through to Asia, where Seoul dived more than three percent as chipmakers were hammered.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
For England, a winter of discontent has bled into the heat of the summer.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
“If it weren’t for their quick action, he would have bled out,” Churchill said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 2026
By the end, every trope the director uses has been bled dry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 2026
“Isn’t she a human being like you and me?” my mother asked, and proceeded to prepare a meal for the crazy woman who, meantime, kept scratching herself till she bled.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
If Reilly was at times overbearing — and known for being the kind of hellacious boss who gave employees night sweats — he was also generous and a genuine bleeding heart.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
So if I’m feeling like I’m bleeding, then it’s probably a good time to buy.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026
The upbeat take from Trivariate wasn’t enough to stem the bleeding, however.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 16, 2026
Ebola, a viral haemorrhagic fever that spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids, can cause severe bleeding and organ failure.
From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026
And then, a few weeks later, she’d begun bleeding, and she knew even before they consulted the doctor that the baby was gone.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
