blood and thunder

noun

Violent action and language, especially of a melodramatic kind, or the representation of this, or an aggressive or bad-tempered physical confrontation, typically in a sporting context.

“blood-and-thunder stories”

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Meanings

noun
  1. Violent action and language, especially of a melodramatic kind, or the representation of this, or an aggressive or bad-tempered physical confrontation, typically in a sporting context.

    […]she could fancy how Thurston was saying to himself: "But what's the good of this? It's blood and thunder we want. The old feller's getting past his work. He must go."

    1920, Hugh Walpole, chapter IV, in The Captives
  2. A work of fiction featuring or characterized by bloodshed and violence; a sensationally violent story, drama, etc.
adjectiveblood and thunder (not comparable)
  1. especiallynot comparableactionfictionBoth melodramatically violent and aggressive; characterized by anger, or forthright ideas and expression.

    blood-and-thunder stories

    3 more examples

    Not Buffalo Bill's! He gave us a jack-o'-lantern scare once upon a time, which I don't believe any of us will ever forget. We had never seen that weird species of pumpkin, and Will embroidered a blood-and-thunder narrative.

    1899, Helen Cody Wetmore, Zane Grey, Last of the Great Scouts

    "Your husband is an American. He should be able to keep you well entertained with blood-and-thunder stories," said he.

    1904, George Barr McCutcheon, chapter VI, in Beverly of Graustark

    Very sincerely do we wish that at least one of the many romance writers who are so industriously inventing wild-animal blood-and-thunder stories would do more work with his eyes and less with his imagination.

    1922, William T. Hornaday, The Minds and Manners of Wild Animals
interjection
  1. archaicrareExpressing anger or exasperation.

    "Man the capstan! Blood and thunder!—jump!"—was the next command, and the crew sprang for the handspikes.

    1851 November 14, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC
    1 more example

    Strap following, with the knapsack on his back, chanced to take the other side, and, by a jolt of the carriage, pitched directly upon the stomach of the captain, who bellowed out, in a most dreadful manner, “Blood and thunder! where’s my sword?”

    1748, [Tobias Smollett], chapter XI, in The Adventures of Roderick Random. […], volume I, London: […] [William Strahan] for J[ohn] Osborn […], →OCLC, page 75

Origin

blood (noun) + and (conjunction) + thunder (noun). First attested in 1696.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

blood and thunder. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blood%20and%20thunder

MLA

“blood and thunder.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blood%20and%20thunder. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “blood and thunder,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blood%20and%20thunder.

Source: blood and thunder on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.