Blood is thicker than water
Our loyalty to our family — that is, to our blood relations — is strong no matter how we may feel about them.
Jump To:
-
Blood is thicker than water
-
blood is thicker than water
blood is thicker than waterFamily ties are closer than other relationships. For example, Nancy will drop everything to help her sister; blood is thicker than water. Alluding to the fact that water evaporates without leaving a mark whereas blood leaves a stain, this proverb was first recorded about 1412.
Blood is thicker than water
Cultural
blood is thicker than water
Idioms
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:
Since Uncle Ronnie was my godfather and not my biological father, my choice was clear: Blood is thicker than water.
From New York Times ● Feb. 11, 2022
Describing relations between the U.S. and Europe recently, Japan's Foreign Minister Masayoshi Ohira somewhat enviously mused: "Blood is thicker than water."
From Time Magazine Archive
When requested to lend a helping hand, he exclaimed "Blood is thicker than water;" and, throwing neutrality to the winds, he proceeded to tow up a flotilla of British barges.
From The Awakening of China by W. A. P. (William Alexander Parsons) Martin
Blood is thicker than water, they tell us; and I have the intuition of kindred very strong in me, I believe.
From Recalled to Life by Grant Allen
Blood is thicker than water, the adage runs.
From In the Valley by Harold Frederic
As I soak beef to make another batch of bone soup for my mom, I'm reminded in more ways than one that blood is thicker than water.
From Salon ● May 22, 2021
They say blood is thicker than water, but in some cases, not even that can guarantee a complimentary reference.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 28, 2020
"But blood is thicker than water, and later on when I visited them I found that they welcomed me. My two kids now stay with my mother."
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2019
The strategy had resonance, since blood provides so many of our metaphors about family: blood ties, blood relations, blood is thicker than water, and so on.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 24, 2019
Perhaps I ought not to say this, for Harold is my nephew and they say blood is thicker than water.
From Luke Walton by Horatio Alger
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.
