— bloodlike , adj.
/blud/ , n.
1. the fluid that circulates in the principal vascular system of human beings and other vertebrates, in humans consisting of plasma in which the red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets are suspended.
2. the vital principle; life: The excitement had got into the very blood of the nation.
3. a person or group regarded as a source of energy, vitality, or vigor: It's time we got some new blood in this company.
4. one of the four elemental bodily humors of medieval physiology, regarded as causing cheerfulness.
5. bloodshed; gore; slaughter; murder: to avenge the blood of his father.
6. the juice or sap of plants: the blood of the grape.
7. temperament; state of mind: a person of hot blood.
8. physical nature of human beings: the frailty of our blood.
9. Chiefly Brit. a high-spirited dandy; an adventuresome youth: the young bloods of Cambridge.
10. a profligate or rake.
11. physical and cultural extraction: It was a trait that seemed to be in their blood.
12. royal extraction: a prince of the blood.
13. descent from a common ancestor; ancestry; lineage: related by blood.
14. recorded and respected ancestry; purebred breeding.
15. Slang. a black person, esp. a man.
16. get or have one's blood up , to become or be enraged or impassioned: Injustice of any sort always gets my blood up.
17. have someone's blood on one's head or hands , to be to blame for someone's affliction or death: Though a criminal, he had no blood on his hands.
18. in cold blood , deliberately; ruthlessly: The dictator, in cold blood, ordered the execution of all his political enemies.
19. make one's blood boil , to inspire resentment, anger, or indignation: Such carelessness makes my blood boil.
20. make one's blood run cold , to fill with terror; frighten: The dark, deserted street in that unfamiliar neighborhood made her blood run cold.
21. sweat blood . See sweat (def. 24).
22. taste blood , to experience a new sensation, usually a violent or destructive one, and acquire an appetite for it: Once the team had tasted blood, there was no preventing them from winning by a wide margin.
v.t.
23. Hunting. to give (hounds) a first sight or taste of blood. Cf. flesh (def. 17).
24. to stain with blood.
[ bef. 1000; ME blo ( o ) d, OE blod; c. OFris, OS blod, OHG bluot (G Blut ), ON bloth, Goth bloth bloda n , an old neuter adj. meaning "spurting" that accompanied the lost IE noun * HesHr ( > Hittite eshar ) blood; akin to BLOOM 1 ; for the meaning cf. SPURT and SPROUT ]
Syn. 13. kinship, stock, family.