v.
Pronunciation: ' bl ē d
Function: verb
Inflected Form: bled \ ' bled \ ; bleed · ing
Etymology: Middle English bleden, from Old English bl ē dan, from bl ō d blood
Date: before 12th century
intransitive verb
1 a : to emit or lose blood b : to sacrifice one's blood especially in battle
2 : to feel anguish, pain, or sympathy <a heart that bleed s at a friend's misfortune>
3 a : to escape by oozing or flowing (as from a wound) b : to spread into or through something gradually : SEEP <foreign policy bleed s into economic policy ― J. B. Judis>
4 : to give up some constituent (as sap or dye) by exuding or diffusing it
5 a : to pay out or give money b : to have money extorted
6 : to be printed so as to run off one or more edges of the page after trimming
transitive verb
1 : to remove or draw blood from
2 : to get or extort money from especially over a prolonged period
3 : to draw sap from (a tree)
4 a : to extract or let out some or all of a contained substance from < bleed a brake line> b : to extract or cause to escape from a container c : to diminish gradually ― usually used with off <a pilot bleed ing off airspeed> d : to lose rapidly and uncontrollably <the company was bleed ing money> e : SAP <cost overruns ⋯ bleed other programs ― Alex Roland>
5 : to cause (as a printed illustration) to bleed
– bleed white : to drain of blood or resources