# bloody

Pronunciation: say "BLUD-ee" /ˈblʌ.diː/

## Adjective

1. Marked by bloodshed, the wounding or killing of people.
   - Simple: Full of fighting in which people are hurt or killed.
   - _The bloody civil war left the country divided for a generation._
   - _It was one of the bloodiest weeks of the revolution._
2. Covered in blood.
   - Simple: With blood all over it.
   - _He came off the field pressing a bloody towel to his forehead._
   - _The detectives found a knife, still bloody, under the kitchen sink._
3. Used before a noun as an intensifier, to give force or emphasis to what is said. *(dialectal, British, Commonwealth, Hawaii, Ireland)*
   - Simple: Used before a noun to make what you say sound stronger.
   - _I've lost my bloody keys again, and the flat's locked._
   - _Whoever got the boiler working before the weekend is a bloody genius._

## Adverb

4. Used to express anger, annoyance, or shock, or simply for emphasis, typically before an adjective or a verb. *(dialectal, Australia, British, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa)*
   - Simple: Used to make words stronger, or to show you are angry, annoyed, or shocked.
   - _You were bloody lucky the brakes held on that hill._
   - _If he won't fix it, I'll bloody well do it myself._

## Noun

5. Short for bloody mary: a cocktail of vodka and tomato juice, usually seasoned with Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, or horseradish. *(colloquial)* — Ellipsis of bloody mary.
   - Simple: Short for bloody mary: a drink made of vodka and spicy tomato juice.
   - _She ordered a bloody with extra horseradish at brunch._
   - _The bartender makes a mean bloody, spicy and loaded with celery salt._

## Verb

6. To make someone bleed, as in a fight, or to stain something with blood.
   - Simple: To make someone bleed, or to get blood on something.
   - _The challenger bloodied the champion's nose in the second round._
   - _Neither boxer could bloody the other until the final round._
7. To do plain, visible harm to an opponent's cause.
   - Simple: To clearly hurt the plans or side of someone you are against.
   - _The scandal bloodied the senator's campaign just weeks before the vote._
   - _The leaked report could bloody the company's case in court._

## Adjective

8. Nasty and badly behaved, especially in the way one treats another person. *(dated)*
   - Simple: Behaving badly or being mean and unpleasant.
   - _I was bloody to my sister all evening, and I owe her an apology._
   - _He can be perfectly bloody when he hasn't slept._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–4, 8** — Proto-Germanic *blōþagaz ("bloody") passed through Proto-West Germanic *blōdag into Old English as blōdiġ or blōdeġ ("bloody") and then into Middle English as blody or blodi. It amounts to blood + -y. Words with the same meaning in related languages include West Frisian bloedich, Dutch bloedig, German blutig, Danish and Swedish blodig, Faroese blóðigur and Icelandic blóðugur.
**Meanings 6–7** — Old English blōdgian or blōdegian ("to bloody, make bloody") goes back through *blōdagōn in Proto-West Germanic to *blōþagōną ("to make bloody") in Proto-Germanic. It led to Middle English *blodien or *blodegen, which shows up in records as blodeke and bi-blodgi. Middle High German bluotigen, Swedish blodga and Icelandic blóðga are related and mean the same.
**Meaning 5** — A shortened form of bloody mary.

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