I. ˈblədē, -di adjective
( -er/-est )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English blōdig, from blōd blood + -ig -y — more at blood
1.
a. : containing or made up of blood
a bloody boil
a bloody sweat
b. : of or in the blood
lust is but a bloody fire — Shakespeare
2.
a. : smeared or stained with blood
your scarf is all bloody
b. : dripping blood : bleeding
too many minor arguments were ending in bloody noses
3.
a. : portending or calling for bloodshed
a bloody augury
I do begin to have bloody thoughts — Shakespeare
b. : accompanied by or involving bloodshed, often cruel or needless bloodshed : sanguinary
a bitter bloody quarrel
especially : marked by great slaughter
a bloody battle was once fought here
4.
a. : given or tending to the shedding of blood : murderous
there was no escape from this bloody rule
b. : having a cruel savage disposition : merciless , cruel
a foul bloody villain
5. : suggesting or like blood in color : bloodred
maples bloody at the touch of Jack Frost
6. Britain — used as a generalized expression of intensification
a bloody rascal
often losing all force
pass the bloody salt
— often considered vulgar
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
: to make bloody
let me alone or I'll bloody your nose
especially : to stain or redden with or as if with blood
autumn already bloodying the dwarf shrubs of the plain — Farley Mowat
the battles that have bloodied this sacred soil
III. adverb
Britain — used as an intensive
a bloody good lot
he can bloody well get his own dinner
— often considered vulgar