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Synonyms

draw blood

Idioms  
  1. Injure someone physically or emotionally. For example, The bullet skimmed his shoulder and barely drew any blood, or That reviewer really knows how to draw blood. This term alludes to drawing blood for diagnostic purposes.


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:

Earlier the jury was told that Ford and her family were not concerned about the dog scratch at the time because it did not draw blood, and she cleaned the cut with a wet wipe.

From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2026

Every other day, I went back to the fertility clinic so the staff could monitor my vitals and draw blood.

From Slate ● Jan. 2, 2025

Lucy Liu’s 9-year-old son, Rockwell, hasn’t seen his mother draw blood in “Charlie’s Angels” or “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” and certainly not in “Kill Bill, Vol. 1.”

From New York Times ● Nov. 23, 2024

“Hacks,” however, makes the battle entertaining, even when the characters we love draw blood.

From Salon ● May 2, 2024

“First, I’m going to give you a quick checkup. Then we’re going to run some tests. Not awful tests, but we have to draw blood and you have to pee in a cup.”

From "Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key" by Jack Gantos

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