bleed
/bliːd
/verb (past and past participle bled /blɛd/)
1 [no object] Lose blood from the body as a result of injury or illness: the cut was bleeding steadily some casualties were left to bleed to death (as noun bleeding) the bleeding has stopped now...
- In Hill's Western Front context, it might very well be ‘a word which, horribly, blends the bleeding men with the rain and mud’.
- Feel free to swim within a half hour of eating, or go into the water with bleeding open wounds.
- So a dream of bleeding gums would indicate a loss of life force through the suppression of thoughts and feelings, and lack of support for one's decisions.
Synonyms
lose blood, haemorrhage
2 [with object] Draw blood from (someone), especially as a former method of treatment in medicine: he didn’t bleed his patients with leeches...
- Legend says that he was bled to death by a treacherous nun at Kirklees in Yorkshire.
- It wasn't deep enough to bleed her to death, but enough to sting and ensure she'd scar.
- There was no need for physicians to bleed residents of this part of Ohio because the mosquitoes did the job.
Synonyms
draw blood from
technical phlebotomize, exsanguinate
2.1 informal Drain (someone) of money or resources: his policy of attempting to bleed British unions of funds...
- The cost of running all these elections and the challenged elections all return to the union too, so the government attempted to bleed the unions with this legislation.
- Certainly he's bleeding us to death in terms of money.
- Gilmartin will tell the Flood Tribunal that attempts were made to bleed him for payments in return for political assistance with his ambitious plans.
Synonyms
drain, exhaust, sap, deplete, deprive, milk, suck dry, empty, reduce
3 [with object] Allow (fluid or gas) to escape from a closed system through a valve: open the isolating valves and bleed air from the pump chamber...
- It cannot be over inflated, as there is an overflow valve that bleeds excess air from the system.
- A gas operating system bleeds gas out of the barrel - usually near the muzzle - and uses it to push an operating rod, or the bolt, to the rear.
- Once ignited, the base burner unit bleeds hot gas which causes the flow of air at the base to be less turbulent.
3.1Release fluid or gas from (a closed system) by allowing air to escape through a valve: air can be got rid of by bleeding the radiator at the vent...
- How do you bleed the air from brake lines of 2002 Lincoln LS?
- Then bleed the air out of the hose, remove the tool and open the regulator to bleed the air in the tank.
- Eventually, we will all need to do some work on our brake system that will result in the need to bleed the system.
4 [no object] (Of a liquid substance such as dye or colour) seep into an adjacent colour or area: I worked loosely with the oils, allowing colours to bleed into one another...
- My bamboo needles have taken on a reddish hue, so I'm pretty sure the colours will bleed.
- As the sun sets, the colour bleeds from the sand until the dunes are ghostly white.
- The faux fur was drenched in water and the cheap dye bled on Becca's hands.
Synonyms
flow, run, ooze, seep, trickle, leak, filter, percolate, escape, leach;
permeate, merge with
4.1 Printing (With reference to an illustration or design) print or be printed so that it runs off the page after trimming: the picture bleeds on three sides...
- Oprah likes pictures that bleed off the page and are in-your-face.
noun
1An instance of bleeding: a lot of blood was lost from the placental bleed...
- It was the evidence of all the other experts in the case that in most instances subdural bleeds could be explained as being a reaction to mechanical forces.
- And if you have got some bleeds and your doctor feels that it is time to do something about it, you go in and you get a laser treatment, and it is not the end of the world.
- Bleeds in the central nervous system, gastrointestinal tract, neck and throat are major bleeds or dangerous bleeds and should be taken seriously.
2 [mass noun] The escape of fluid or gas from a closed system through a valve: check the amount of air bleed from the compressor [as modifier]: open the bleed valve...
- The bleed valve is located at the top end of the radiator and at one end of the baseboard convector.
- You'll have to install the radiator next, followed by the pump and fill and bleed kit.
- One of those two bleed holes will always be upright, no matter which lever is on the right and left.
3 Printing An instance of printing an illustration or design so as to leave no margin after the page has been trimmed: the picture has an unfortunate bleed...
- Just been watching Steve Jobs' Macworld Keynote speech, iPhoto was just simplicity itself and the demo of iPhoto book with 10-50 full page bleeds was just awesome.
- Oh well, at least you got a full bleed photo that wasn't a handrail.
- She opened it to a full bleed picture of the reverend himself and showed Frank the elaborate signature.
3.1 [mass noun] The seeping of a dye or colour into an adjacent colour or area: colour bleed is apparent on brighter hues...
- You no more need to be terrified about washing your new outfits for the fear of colour bleed.
- Overcast the cut edges so they don't fray, then toss the item in the machine by itself in case of colour bleed.
- Video quality is uniformly solid, though some videos are overly bright, with some examples of minor edge degradation and color bleed.
Phrases
bleed someone/something dry (or white)
my heart bleeds (for you)
Origin
Old English blēdan, of Germanic origin; related to blood.