bloodletting

[ bluhd-let-ing ]

/ ˈblʌdˌlɛt ɪŋ /

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See synonyms for: bloodletting / bloodlettings on Thesaurus.com

noun

the act or practice of letting blood by opening a vein; phlebotomy.

bloodshed or slaughter.

Informal. severe cutbacks or reduction in personnel, appropriations, etc.: The company went through a period of bloodletting in the 1970s.

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In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

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Origin of bloodletting

First recorded in 1175–1225, bloodletting is from Middle English blod letunge. See blood, let¹, -ing¹

OTHER WORDS FROM bloodletting

bloodletter, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bloodletting in a sentence

It is surely preferable to blood-letting in the guise of ideologically-guided nation-building.
America Doesn’t Need a Big Army Any More|Bill Sweetman|March 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In fact the Abrahamic sacrifice had nothing to do with the physical act of blood-letting.
Should Animal Sacrifice End?|David Frum|October 26, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The only known blood letting between future Nobel Prize winners.
Mario Vargas Llosa's True Genius|Allen Barra|May 31, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Louis the Goon seemed to have a blind genius for getting on the scene when some blood-letting was due.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various

At the present time Sheppy lacks something of his customary steam owing to a rather serious blood-letting.
The Red Cow and Her Friends|Peter McArthur
The blood-letting was a sorely needed medicine to her choked veins.
The Watchers of the Trails|Charles G. D. Roberts
Without a little blood-letting this Union will not, in my estimation, be worth a rush.
A Report of the Debates and Proceedings in the Secret Sessions of the Conference Convention|Lucius Eugene Chittenden
The most usual resort in these cases of obstinate rigidity is blood-letting.
The Matron's Manual of Midwifery, and the Diseases of Women During Pregnancy and in Childbed|Frederick Hollick

British Dictionary definitions for bloodletting

blood-letting

/ (ˈblʌdˌlɛtɪŋ) /

noun

the therapeutic removal of blood, as in relieving congestive heart failureSee also phlebotomy

bloodshed, esp in a blood feud

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