ˈblədlə̇s adjective
Etymology: Middle English blodles, from Old English blōdlēas, from blōd blood + -lēas -less — more at blood
1.
a. : lacking or apparently lacking blood : free from blood
the meat must be made completely bloodless
a bloodless surgical field
often : pale , pallid , blanched
a wan and bloodless countenance
b. : lifeless
the bloodless carcass of my Hector sold — John Dryden
2. : not accompanied by bloodshed or slaughter
a bloodless victory
a bloodless revolution
3. : lacking in spirit or vitality
a bloodless descendant of a noble race
also : lacking in originality or vigor
the bloodless art of the mid-19th century
make his novels and dramas rather bloodless exercises in abstract morality — F.B.Millett
4. : lacking in human feeling : cold-hearted, unemotional , unfeeling
a batch of bloodless statistics — F.L.Allen
a curious bloodless attempt to examine and pry into the lives of his fellows
• blood·less·ly adverb
• blood·less·ness noun -es