bleed for

present singular third person bleeds for · participle present bleeding for · participle past bled for · past bled for

1. To feel great sympathy or compassion for; to mourn on account of.

   He bleeds for the Negro, he bleeds for the Jew, he bleeds for the oppressed peoples.

   1967 July 7, William A. McWhirter, “How Art Swindlers Duped a Virtuous Millionaire”, in LIFE, volume 63, number 1, page 54

   2 more examples

   Also, I bleed for the welfare of our children among our growing population of feral underclass.

   2010, Mark A. Bruhwiller, The Last Dog Watch: A Memoir of a Wilful Young Lad, page 108

   Not that I don't care, kid. Not that I don't bleed for you. But again, I'm seventy-four.

   2016, Lawrence Block, In Sunlight or In Shadow

2. To suffer when fighting for.

   Cæsar will bleed for Cleopatra, but Cleopatra, in her turn, must bleed for Cæsar.

   1898, Khalīl Saʻādah, Caesar & Cleopatra, page 318

   3 more examples

   In great emergencies peoples are saved by men who bleed for the people, who are willing to pay dear and deep for their devotion to righteousness.

   1896, The Methodist Review - Volume 78, page 787

   They let the Germans bleed for the freedom of the left bank of the Rhine —including Luxemburg —they loudly boast they have no fatherland, and reserve it to themselves to heap abuse on Germans as slaves, to shout to the German tide-waiters a scornful "merde pour la Prusse!"

   1914, Heinrich von Treitschke, Treitschke, His Life and Works, page 237

   How many times must I bleed for you before you see, that I would die for you How many times must I bleed for you before I see, that I am dying for you

   2005, Anthony Pepe, “ReCognition”, in ... That Defines the Light, page 26

3. To receive corporal or capital punishment for.

   He dies — the friend of sinners dies—Oh, how he bleeds for me, Lo!

   1860, The Chorus, Or, A Collection of Choruses and Hymns

   2 more examples

   The contrite hears, he hears, and lives; Bleeds for his crimes, and heav'n forgives;

   1802, Hymns for Public Worship, page 48

   "So Benaiah went up and slew him." Joab must have been old and infirm at this time; and now he bleeds for Abner, he bleeds for Amasa, and he bleeds for Uriah.

   1892, The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary, page 42