# hemorrhage

/ˈhɛmɝɪdʒ/ (US)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/hemorrhage
Updated: 2026-08-27

## Senses

### 1. heavy bleeding

noun · CEFR C1 · American English · Technical

a large and sudden loss of blood from the body.

For teachers: a profuse discharge of blood from the blood vessels, either internally or externally.

- The patient suffered a severe hemorrhage after the accident and needed surgery immediately.
- The surgeon worked quickly to locate the source of the internal hemorrhage before the patient's blood pressure dropped to critical levels.

Usage: Commonly used as an uncountable noun for the condition and a countable noun for a specific event.

### 2. loss of resources

noun · CEFR C1 · American English

a sudden or large loss of something valuable, like money or workers.

For teachers: a rapid, significant, and detrimental loss of assets, personnel, or resources.

- The company faced a massive hemorrhage of talent as employees left for better jobs.
- Economists warned that without immediate intervention, the national treasury would face a hemorrhage of capital that could destabilize the currency.

Teaching tip: This figurative use is common in business and political journalism to emphasize the severity of a loss.

### 3. to bleed heavily

verb · CEFR C1 · American English · Technical

to lose a lot of blood very quickly.

For teachers: to undergo a profuse and rapid loss of blood.

- The wound began to hemorrhage, so he applied pressure to stop the flow.
- Medical staff were concerned that the victim might hemorrhage internally despite showing few outward signs of trauma.

Usage: Usually functions as an intransitive verb in medical contexts.

### 4. to lose rapidly

verb · CEFR C1 · American English

to lose a large amount of something, especially money, in a way that is hard to stop.

For teachers: to lose something in copious and detrimental quantities, typically in a financial or organizational context.

- The airline was hemorrhaging money every day while the planes were grounded.
- The tech startup began hemorrhaging users after the controversial update, leading to a sharp decline in its market valuation.

Usage: Often used transitively with 'money', 'cash', or 'jobs' as the object.

## Examples

- The doctor stopped the hemorrhage in the patient's leg.
- Emergency responders worked quickly to control the internal hemorrhage caused by the accident.
- The surgeon noted that while the primary hemorrhage had been contained, the risk of secondary bleeding remained high due to the patient's underlying vascular condition.

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