bleed

views updated Jun 11 2018

bleed / blēd/ • v. (past and past part. bled / bled/ ) 1. [intr.] lose blood from the body as a result of injury or illness: some casualties were left to bleed to death [as n.] (bleeding) the bleeding has stopped now. ∎  (of a dye or color) seep into an adjacent color or area: I worked loosely with the oils, allowing colors to bleed into one another.2. [tr.] draw blood from (someone), esp. as a once-common method of treatment in medicine. ∎  remove blood from (an animal carcass): the first steer rolled out on the floor to be bled, skinned, and dressed. ∎  [tr.] inf. drain (someone) of money or resources: his policy of attempting to bleed unions of funds. ∎  [tr.] allow (fluid or gas) to escape from a closed system through a valve: open the valves and bleed air from the pump chamber.• n. an instance of bleeding: a lot of blood was lost from the placental bleed.PHRASES: bleed someone dry (or white) drain someone of all money or resources: the railroads claimed that personnel costs were bleeding them dry.

bleed

views updated May 21 2018

bleed to draw blood from a person was formerly a method of treatment in medicine.
bleed someone dry drain someone of all their money or resources. Since the late 17th century, bleeding has been a metaphor for extorting money from someone. In the variant bleed someone white, white refers to the physiological effect of loss of blood.

bleed

views updated Jun 11 2018

bleed OE. blēdan = MLG. blōden, ON. blœða :- Gmc. *blōðjan, f. *blōðam BLOOD.