bleed

[bleed]

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verb (used without object), bled [bled] /blɛd/, bleed·ing.

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.

(of injured tissue, excrescences, etc.) to exude blood: a wart that is bleeding.

(of a plant) to exude sap, resin, etc., from a wound.

(of dye or paint) to run or become diffused: All the colors bled when the dress was washed.

(of a liquid) to ooze or flow out.

to feel pity, sorrow, or anguish: My heart bleeds for you. A nation bleeds for its dead heroes.

to suffer wounds or death, as in battle: The soldiers bled for the cause.

(of a broadcast signal) to interfere with another signal: CB transmissions bleeding over into walkie-talkies.

Printing. (of printed matter) to run off the edges of a page, either by design or through mutilation caused by too close trimming.

Slang. to pay out money, as when overcharged or threatened with extortion.

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), bled [bled] /blɛd/, bleed·ing.

to cause to lose blood, especially surgically: Doctors no longer bleed their patients to reduce fever.

to lose or emit (blood or sap).

to drain or draw sap, water, electricity, etc., from (something): to bleed a pipeline of excess air.

to remove trapped air from (as an automotive brake system) by opening a bleeder valve.

to obtain an excessive amount from; extort money from.

Printing.

to permit (printed illustrations or ornamentation) to run off the page or sheet.
to trim the margin of (a book or sheet) so closely as to mutilate the text or illustration.

noun

Printing.

a sheet or page margin trimmed so as to mutilate the text or illustration.
a part thus trimmed off.

Medicine/Medical. an instance of bleeding; hemorrhage: an intracranial bleed.

adjective

Printing. characterized by bleeding: a bleed page.

Verb Phrases

bleed off, to draw or extract: to bleed off sap from a maple tree; to bleed off static electricity.

Idioms

bleed white. white(def 41).

Origin of bleed

before 1000; Middle English bleden, Old English blēdan, derivative of blōd blood

Related formsout·bleed, verb (used with object), out·bled, out·bleed·ing.un·bled, adjective

Can be confusedbled bleed blood

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for bleed

trickle, weep, ooze, drain, squeeze, stick, ache, suffer, run, seep, shed, gush, spurt, hemorrhage, exude, leech, phlebotomize, exhaust, fleece, rook

Examples from the Web for bleed

Contemporary Examples of bleed

Those prognosticators had reason to believe the 10,000 lakes could bleed a little red into Washington.
What Al Franken’s Normcore Senate Race Can Teach Other Democrats
Ana Marie Cox
October 27, 2014
For instance, when a couple is having trouble, the tension and hostility can bleed into BDSM scenes.
Coming Out Kinky to Your Doctor, in Black and Blue
Heather Boerner
October 25, 2014
Spain was hammered by the financial crisis and continues to bleed.
Will Scandal Sink the Spanish Royal Family?
Tom Sykes
August 18, 2014
But she continued to bleed, and the staff became all the more alarmed.
How Bureaucrats Let Ebola Spread to Nigeria
Michael Daly
August 14, 2014
The force of the two reacting spreads the foam through the chest cavity, hardening to apply pressure to any bleed sites.
New 'Suspended Animation' Procedure Saves Lives by Replacing Blood with a Cold Electrolyte Solution
Elizabeth Lopatto
April 2, 2014

Historical Examples of bleed

He saw he was due to bleed to death and he took a shorter way!
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
Don't let me count three till you're after me, or I'll bleed ye!
Tales And Novels, Volume 8 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
And now, if you don't want me to bleed to death get me out of this slop, and--yes,--easy!
The Cavalier
George Washington Cable
By mistake he hit himself in the nose and it began to bleed.
The Chinese Fairy Book
Various
If Hermione could have heard them her torn heart might perhaps have ceased to bleed.
A Spirit in Prison
Robert Hichens

British Dictionary definitions for bleed

bleed

verb bleeds, bleeding or bled

(intr) to lose or emit blood

(tr) to remove or draw blood from (a person or animal)

(intr) to be injured or die, as for a cause or one's country

(of plants) to exude (sap or resin), esp from a cut

(tr) informal to obtain relatively large amounts of money, goods, etc, esp by extortion

(tr) to draw liquid or gas from (a container or enclosed system)to bleed the hydraulic brakes

(intr) (of dye or paint) to run or become mixed, as when wet

to print or be printed so that text, illustrations, etc, run off the trimmed page

(tr) to trim (the edges of a printed sheet) so closely as to cut off some of the printed matter

(intr) civil engineering building trades (of a mixture) to exude (a liquid) during compaction, such as water from cement

bleed someone or something dry to extort gradually all the resources of a person or thing

one's heart bleeds used to express sympathetic grief, but often used ironically

noun

printing

an illustration or sheet trimmed so that some matter is bled
(as modifier)a bleed page

printing the trimmings of a sheet that has been bled

Word Origin for bleed

Old English blēdan; see blood

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bleed

Old English bledan "to let blood," in Middle English and after, "to let blood from surgically;" also "to emit blood," from Proto-Germanic *blodjan "emit blood" (cf. Old Norse blæða, German bluten), from *bhlo-to- "swell, gush, spurt" (see blood (n.)). Meaning "extort money from" is from 1670s. Of dyes or paints, from 1862. Related: Bled; bleeding.

bleed in Medicine