bloody

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Covered in blood.

   • All that remained of his right hand after the accident was a bloody stump.
   • And, as she fled, her mantle she did fall, / Which Lion vile with bloody mouth did stain.
   • O Antony! Begge not your death of vs: / Though now we muſt appeare bloody and cruell, / As by our hands, and this our preſent Acte / You ſee we do: Yet ſee you but our hands, / And this, the bleeding buſineſſe they haue done:
2. 2

   Characterised by bloodshed.

   • There have been bloody battles between the two tribes.
   • Some bloody paſſion ſhakes your very Frame:
   • I had therefore been, until now, out of the way of the bloody scenes that often occurred on the plantation.
3. 3

   Used as an intensifier.

   • Traffic in central London was a bloody mess this morning.
   • There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today.
   • Try to keep those bloody women's bloody heads on their bloody shoulders by somehow helping them make this whole mad impossible scheme actually work.
4. ›+ 6 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      Badly behaved

      Badly behaved; unpleasant; beastly.

      • Come to apologize to Charles. I was bloody to him and he's my guest. He's my guest and my only friend and I was bloody to him.
   2. 5

      Used to express anger, annoyance, or shock, or for emphasis.

      • Walk! Not bloody likely. [Sensation]. I am going in a taxi. [She goes out].
      • "Dice are no bloody good," David said.
   3. 6

      To stain with blood.

      • The butcher often bloodied his apron in the course of his work.
   4. 7

      To draw blood from (one's opponent) in a fight.

   5. 8

      To demonstrably harm (the cause of an opponent).

   6. 9

      Ellipsis of bloody mary.

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