blood-letting

  • 1blood-letting — (n.) also bloodletting, early 13c., blod letunge, from BLOOD (Cf. blood) + LET (Cf. let) (v.). Hyphenated from 17c., one word from mid 19c. Old English had blodlæte blood letting …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 2blood-letting — 1) N UNCOUNT Blood letting is violence or killing between groups of people, especially between rival armies. Once again there s been ferocious blood letting in the township. 2) N UNCOUNT Journalists sometimes refer to a bitter quarrel between two …

    English dictionary

  • 3Blood-letting — The practice of blood letting or bleeding (phlebotomy) was general throughout the medieval period. It was considered a panacea for a variety of ills. In monasteries, monks were treated at set times of the year, which were known as tempora… …

    Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases

  • 4blood letting — n. phlebotomy, draining of blood for medical purposes; killing, bloodshed …

    English contemporary dictionary

  • 5blood-letting — n. Bleeding, phlebotomy …

    New dictionary of synonyms

  • 6blood-letting — …

    Useful english dictionary

  • 7Blood brother — can refer to one of two things: two males related by birth, or two or more men not related by birth, who swear loyalty to one another. This is usually done in a ceremony, known as a Blood Oath, where the blood of each man is mingled together. In… …

    Wikipedia

  • 8blood — n. & v. n. 1 a liquid, usually red and circulating in the arteries and veins of vertebrates, that carries oxygen to and carbon dioxide from the tissues of the body. 2 a corresponding fluid in invertebrates. 3 bloodshed, esp. killing. 4 passion,… …

    Useful english dictionary

  • 9Blood is thicker than water — is a German proverb (originally: Blut ist dicker als Wasser. ), which is also common in English speaking countries. It generally means that the bonds of family and common ancestry are stronger than those bonds between unrelated people (such as… …

    Wikipedia

  • 10Letting — Let Let, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Let} ({Letted} (l[e^]t t[e^]d), [Obs].); p. pr. & vb. n. {Letting}.] [OE. leten, l[ae]ten (past tense lat, let, p. p. laten, leten, lete), AS. l[=ae]tan (past tense l[=e]t, p. p. l[=ae]ten); akin to OFries. l[=e]ta,… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English