Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
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:

Olusanya spent about 30 minutes preparing for the 3 p.m. appointment, assembling equipment to draw blood, collect a urine sample and check the patient’s vitals and glucose levels.

From Los Angeles Times May 24, 2025

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

Clearly no one was going to draw blood with this weapon.

From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training