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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

bleed.

To shed blood through an injured blood vessel.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ˈbliːd/[ˈblɪi̯d]
  1. To shed blood through an injured blood vessel.

    intransitive
    If her nose bleeds, try to use ice.
  2. To menstruate.

    intransitive
  3. To let or draw blood from.

    transitive
  4. To take large amounts of money from.

    transitive
  5. To steadily lose (something vital).

    transitive
    The company was bleeding talent.
  6. To spread from the intended location and stain the surrounding cloth or paper.

    intransitive
    Ink traps counteract bleeding.
  7. To remove air bubbles from a pipe containing other fluids.

    transitive
  8. To tap off high-pressure gas (usually air) from a system that produces high-pressure gas primarily for another purpose.

    transitive
    At low engine speeds, valves open to bleed some of the highly-compressed air from the later compressor stages, helping to prevent engine surging.
    High-pressure air bled from the APU is used to spin up the engines and run the APU generator and hydraulic pump, and can also be used to pressurise the cabin if necessary.
  9. To bleed on; to make bloody.

    obsolete · transitive
  10. To show one's group loyalty by showing (its associated color) in one's blood.

    copulative · figuratively · intransitive
    He was a devoted Vikings fan: he bled purple.
  11. To lose sap, gum, or juice.

    A tree or a vine bleeds when tapped or wounded.
  12. To issue forth, or drop, like blood from an incision.

  13. To destroy the environment where another phonological rule would have applied.

    transitive
    Labialization bleeds palatalization.
  14. To (cause to) extend to the edge of the page, without leaving any margin.

    ambitransitive
  15. To lose money.

    intransitive
    Most of the sectors are bleeding, particularly the resources sector.
Where this word comes from

From Middle English bleden, from Old English blēdan (“to bleed”), from Proto-West Germanic *blōdijan, from Proto-Germanic *blōdijaną (“to bleed”), from *blōþą (“blood”). Cognates Cognate with Scots blede, bleid (“to bleed”), Saterland Frisian bläide (“to bleed”), West Frisian bliede (“to bleed”), Dutch bloeden (“to bleed”), Low German blöden (“to bleed”), German bluten (“to bleed”), Danish bløde (“to bleed”), Swedish blöda (“to bleed”).

noun/ˈbliːd/[ˈblɪi̯d]
  1. An incident of bleeding, as in haemophilia.

    countable · uncountable
  2. A system for tapping hot, high-pressure air from a gas turbine engine for purposes such as cabin pressurization and airframe anti-icing.

    countable · plural-normally · uncountable
    When taking off at high altitude or at near-maximum weight, the bleeds have to be turned off temporarily, as they decrease engine power somewhat.
  3. A narrow edge around a page layout, to be printed but cut off afterwards (added to allow for slight misalignment, especially with pictures that should run to the edge of the finished sheet).

    countable · uncountable
  4. A margin left at the edges of a shot to allow for the picture being cropped when it arrives at viewers' screens.

    countable · uncountable
  5. The situation where sound is picked up by a microphone from a source other than that which is intended.

    countable · uncountable
  6. The removal of air bubbles from a pipe containing other fluids.

    countable · uncountable
  7. The phenomenon of in-character feelings affecting a player's feelings or actions outside of the game.

    uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English bleden, from Old English blēdan (“to bleed”), from Proto-West Germanic *blōdijan, from Proto-Germanic *blōdijaną (“to bleed”), from *blōþą (“blood”). Cognates Cognate with Scots blede, bleid (“to bleed”), Saterland Frisian bläide (“to bleed”), West Frisian bliede (“to bleed”), Dutch bloeden (“to bleed”), Low German blöden (“to bleed”), German bluten (“to bleed”), Danish bløde (“to bleed”), Swedish blöda (“to bleed”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.