ENGLISH
REFERENCE

bloodbath

n.
C1 Advanced US //ˈbɫədˌbæθ// UK //blˈʌdbɑːθ// blood·bath

n. a situation where a lot of people or things are destroyed or ruined at once. It can describe a very violent event or a sudden drop in the value of a stock market.

n. a situation involving extreme violence or destruction; in a financial context, a sudden and significant drop in the value of a stock market.


SIMPLE

The crash caused a bloodbath in the stock market.

CONTEXTUAL

The sudden loss of the lead player led to a total bloodbath in the final minutes of the game.

COMPLEX

Economists warned that the sudden withdrawal of capital would trigger a bloodbath, wiping out decades of gains for investors who had relied on the stability of the sector.

Synonyms
Origin

From blood + bath, the latter used referring to a metaphorical deluge. Compare West Frisian bloedbad (“bloodbath”), Dutch bloedbad (“bloodbath”), German Blutbad (“bloodbath”), Danish blodbad (“bloodbath”), Norwegian Bokmål blodbad (“bloodbath”), Swedish blodbad (“bloodbath”), Icelandic blóðbad (“bloodbath”).

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