blood sport

American

noun

any sport involving killing or the shedding of blood, as bullfighting, cockfighting, or hunting.

blood sport British

noun

any sport involving the killing of an animal, esp hunting

"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

Etymology

Origin of blood sport

First recorded in 1890–95

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:

blood sport

So he’s not only talking about the blood sport of bullfighting or the endless fallouts from the partying.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

I understand why people wouldn’t want to watch a blood sport.

From Slate ● Jun. 16, 2026

"Amanda's an awful woman, of course," he said, "a backstabbing snob who treats her children as accessories and turns every encounter with her 'mum chums' at the school gates into a blood sport."

From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2025

Especially online, where pop fan allegiance can be a blood sport, the matchup became one to watch.

From New York Times ● May 23, 2024

I guess cross-country is also a blood sport.

From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023