bleed
Americanverb (used without object)
-
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)
-
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
verb phrase
idioms
verb
-
(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
-
informal (tr) 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
-
to extort gradually all the resources of a person or thing
-
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
Other Word Forms
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.
At some point, that could bleed into stocks, as it did late last week.
From Barron's • May 18, 2026
Making it tougher still is sound bleed from a film detailing the 1781 British conquest of the island, a problem that headphones could solve.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026
Platitudes are for popsicle sticks and fortune cookies, not feature-length adaptations of literary classics intended to warn readers about how easily power can bleed into corruption.
From Salon • May 3, 2026
And he said, ‘I will die protecting what it means, but I will not bleed on the flag.’
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 19, 2026
And yet at the very same time he was happily engaged in using the new astronomy to predict the weather and to decide when doctors should bleed their patients.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
