bloodletting
Americannoun
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the act or practice of letting blood by opening a vein; phlebotomy.
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bloodshed or slaughter.
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Informal. severe cutbacks or reduction in personnel, appropriations, etc..
The company went through a period of bloodletting in the 1970s.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of bloodletting
First recorded in 1175–1225, bloodletting is from Middle English blod letunge. See blood, let 1, -ing 1
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.
Bloodletting, a procedure with ancient roots, was a common treatment for many ailments.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026
Thus began one of the strangest incidents in American history, which Andy McPhee documents in “The Doctors’ Riot of 1788: Body Snatching, Bloodletting, and Anatomy in America.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 5, 2026
Bloodletting, for example, persisted for hundreds of years in Europe even though it almost certainly weakened and killed the sick.
From New York Times • May 18, 2017
Bloodletting as a treatment may also have hastened Mozart’s death.
From New York Times • Aug. 24, 2010
Bloodletting was an ancient and trusted medical practice that had been in use for more than 2,500 years.
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
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.
