# blood

Pronunciation: say "BLUD" /blʌd/

## Noun

1. The red fluid that circulates in the bodies of humans and many animals, carrying oxygen and nutrients, including blood lost during menstruation.
   - Simple: The red liquid that moves around your body carrying oxygen, including blood lost during a period.
   - _The doctor explained how blood delivers oxygen to the muscles._
   - _A healthy adult has about five liters of blood circulating at any moment._
2. A laboratory sample of a patient's blood, or the test run on it. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A small amount of a person's blood taken for testing, or the test done on it.
   - _Your bloods came back normal, so the doctor says you can go home today._
   - _The ward nurse phoned the lab twice because the morning bloods still had not come back._
3. The shedding of blood; the killing or wounding of people, especially in war or violent conflict.
   - Simple: The killing or wounding of people, especially in fighting or war.
   - _The revolution was won at the cost of much blood._
   - _The mob gathered outside the jail was out for blood._
4. Descent or family relationship by birth, as distinct from ties made by marriage or adoption; also a person's ancestry, as in royal blood.
   - Simple: A family connection that comes from birth, not from marriage or adoption, as in related by blood.
   - _She inherited the estate because she was related to him by blood._
   - _Among royal families, blood determined who could claim the throne._
5. A person's temper, disposition, or mood, especially regarded as the seat of passion or anger.
   - Simple: A person's mood or temper, especially when feeling strong emotion.
   - _The challenge stirred his blood, and he leapt to his feet._
   - _Her fiery blood made her quick to take offense._
6. Newer or younger members added to a group or organization and prized for the energy or new thinking they contribute.
   - Simple: New or young people who join a group and are wanted for their energy or new ideas.
   - _After a decade with the same board, the charity badly needed new blood._
   - _The firm hired a wave of recent graduates, hoping fresh blood would shake up its tired product line._
9. A friend or mate, especially as a familiar way of addressing one; also spelled blud. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Slang for a friend, often used when talking to them, as in 'Easy, blood'.
   - _When I walked into the shop, the owner looked up and said, 'What's good, blood? Haven't seen you in weeks.'_
   - _'You made it, blood!' Marcus shouted when his old school friend walked into the party._
12. One of the four humors of classical and medieval medicine, believed to govern a person's health and temperament.
   - Simple: In old medicine, one of the four liquids people believed controlled health and mood.
   - _Medieval physicians held that an excess of blood left a patient flushed and reckless._
   - _According to the old theory, blood ruled the body in spring and gave a man his cheerful spirits._

## Verb

7. To let a newcomer, typically a young player, take part in a genuine match, competition, or activity for the first time. *(UK)*
   - Simple: To let a new person, often a young player, take part in a real game or event for the first time.
   - _The selectors chose to blood three uncapped youngsters in the final Test of the series._
   - _The paper blooded its new trainee reporter by sending her out to cover election night._
10. To give someone a first taste of war or of a blood sport, traditionally marking the occasion by daubing them with blood from the first kill they witness.
   - Simple: To welcome someone into hunting or war for the first time, often by marking them with blood from the kill.
   - _The general chose to blood his new recruits in a small skirmish first._
   - _The huntsman blooded her by marking her cheeks after the fox was taken._

## Verb

8. To cause something to become covered or stained with blood. *(rare)*
   - Simple: To make something become covered or stained with blood.
11. To draw blood from (a person or animal) as a medical treatment; to bleed. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To take blood out of a sick person's body, as doctors did in the past.
13. To make eager for combat or bloodshed; to incite or enrage against an opponent. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To make people angry and ready to fight an enemy.

## Noun

14. A lively, showy man, especially a fashionable young man about town; a rake or dandy. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A young man who loved fine clothes, parties, and showing off.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A horse of good pedigree; a well-bred horse such as a thoroughbred.
- (noun) The sap or juice of a plant or fruit, especially when red, thought of as its blood.

## Origin

From Middle English blood, from Old English blōd, from Proto-Germanic *blōþą, possibly from a Proto-Indo-European root *bʰel- ("to swell"), meaning something like "that which bursts out." It is related to Dutch bloed, German Blut, and the Scandinavian blod.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/blood (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).