Contextualizebeta

bloodletting

noun

Etymology

From blood + letting, equal to bloodlet + -ing.

Definitions

  1. The archaic practice of treating illness by removing some blood, believed to be tainted,…

    The archaic practice of treating illness by removing some blood, believed to be tainted, from the stricken person.

  2. The diminishment of any resource with the hope that this will lead to a positive effect.

    • Yet another round of corporate bloodletting.
    • Only when the bankers and industrialists abroad realized that a ferocious class struggle in Germany was raging did they begin to relent somewhat on their economic bloodletting.

  3. A circumstance, such as a battle, where a large amount of blood is likely to be spilled…

    A circumstance, such as a battle, where a large amount of blood is likely to be spilled through violence.

  4. ›+ 1 more definition

    1. present participle and gerund of bloodlet

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for bloodletting. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA