bleed

bleed Definition

bleed (blēd)

intransitive verb bled (bled), bleeding bleed′·ing

to emit or lose blood
to suffer wounds or die in a battle or cause
to feel pain, grief, or sympathy; suffer
to ooze; esp., to ooze sap, juice, etc., as bruised plants
to run together, as dyes in wet cloth
to come through a covering coat of paint, as certain stains
to be printed to the edge of a page, wrapper, etc. so that a part is later trimmed off: said of pictures, designs, etc.

Etymology: ME bleden < OE bledan < blod, blood < IE *bhlē-, var. of base *bhel-, to swell > ball, bloom

transitive verb

to draw blood from; leech
to ooze (sap, juice, etc.)
☆ to take sap or juice from
1. to empty slowly of liquid, air, or gas
2. to draw off (liquid, air, or gas) slowly
1. to print (a picture, design, etc.) so that a small part at the edge is cut off when the paper is trimmed
2. to trim (a page) so as to bleed some of the printed matter
Informal to get money from, esp. by extortion

noun

the part of a printed picture, design, etc. that overruns the margin to be trimmed

bleed Synonyms

To lose blood
shed blood, be bleeding, have unstaunched wounds, hemorrhage, have a hemorrhage.
To issue as blood
fall drop by drop, gush, spurt, ooze; see flow 2.
*To extort money
extort, impoverish, pauperize, exhaust one's resources, drain, bleed white*, blackmail, confiscate, put the squeeze on*, strong-arm*, put the screws to*; see also steal.
To let blood
cup, draw blood, take blood, open a vein, leech, phlebotomize.
To suffer
ache, agonize, grieve, be in pain; see mourn 1, suffer 1.
To drain
exhaust, reduce, get rid of, sap; see drain 1, 2, 3.

bleed Usage Examples

Object

nipple: I would put money on the union or the bleed nipple never having had a spanner on either.
valve: The computer section also signals the closure of the compressor bleed valve.

Preposition: from

wound: Broken Bosnia, four years after war ended, bleeds from wounds many say will never heal.

bleed Quotes

I pursued a maiden and clasped a reed: Gods and men, we are all deluded thus! It breaks in our bosom and then we bleed.

—Shelley, Percy Bysshe

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