bloods

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of blood.

   Hospital staff log every set of bloods as soon as the samples arrive.

   The breeder mixed two strong bloods to produce a hardier line of horses.

   Note

   A plural that most senses of blood never take, because the vital fluid is normally a mass noun. The -s appears when blood names separate, countable things: individual tests or samples in informal clinical shorthand, or distinct lines of birth and descent. The same spelling also serves as the present-tense verb, so context decides which one is meant.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of blood.

   The regiment bloods its recruits in minor skirmishes before any major battle.

   Tradition dictates that the master bloods every novice at the season's first kill.

   Note

   A regular verb takes the ordinary -s here, and because the verb is transitive, an object almost always follows. That object is the quickest way to tell it from the noun plural. In current use it means smearing with blood or initiating a novice into hunting or warfare. Its sense of letting blood is historical, and its sense of rousing someone to fury is obsolete.

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