bleed
- 01 B1 Intermediate
v.to lose blood from your body because of a cut or injury.
v.to emit or lose blood from the vascular system through a wound or medical condition.
Simple“His nose started to bleed after he accidentally walked into the glass door.”
In context“The surgeon worked quickly to cauterise the vessel, as the patient had begun to bleed profusely during the initial incision.”
Synonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to lose a lot of money or something important over a long time.
v.to lose money, assets, or vital resources steadily and in large quantities.
Simple“The small company was bleeding money because of high rent and low sales.”
In context“The subsidiary continued to bleed capital despite the parent company's aggressive attempts to restructure its mounting debt.”
SynonymsdraindepleteAntonyms - 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.when ink or paint spreads into the area around it and makes a mess.
v.to spread from the intended area into an adjacent surface, causing staining or blurred edges.
Simple“Don't wash that red shirt with white clothes, or the colour might bleed.”
In context“The ink began to bleed through the thin parchment, making the delicate calligraphy on the reverse side nearly impossible to read.”
- 04 C1 Advanced
v.to let air or liquid out of a pipe or machine so it works correctly.
v.to drain or allow to escape a fluid or gas from a closed system, typically to remove air bubbles.
Simple“You might need to bleed the radiators if they aren't getting warm at the top.”
In context“The mechanic had to bleed the brake lines to ensure no air pockets remained to compromise the vehicle's stopping power.”
- 05 C1 Advanced
v.to take as much money as possible from someone, often in an unfair way.
v.to extort or extract large sums of money from a person or organisation over a period of time.
Simple“The dishonest lawyer tried to bleed his clients for every penny they had.”
In context“Blackmailers often attempt to bleed their victims dry by demanding increasingly large payments in exchange for silence.”
- 06 C1 Advanced
n.the part of a printed picture that goes off the edge of the page.
n.the area of a printed sheet that is trimmed off after printing to ensure images extend to the very edge.
Simple“Make sure your background image has a 3mm bleed so there are no white edges.”
In context“The graphic designer failed to account for the bleed, resulting in a thin white sliver along the edge of the finished brochures.”
“And the display quality still isn’t perfect; I noticed minor light bleed across the top of my review unit’s display when it was showing something dark.”
From Middle English bleden, from Old English blēdan (“to bleed”), from Proto-West Germanic blōdijan, from Proto-Germanic blōþijaną (“to bleed”), from *blōþą (“blood”). Cognates Cognate with Scots blede, bleid (“to bleed”), Saterland Frisian bläide (“to bleed”), West Frisian bliede (“to bleed”), Dutch bloeden (“to bleed”), Low German blöden (“to bleed”), German bluten (“to bleed”), Danish bløde (“to bleed”), Swedish blöda (“to bleed”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.