bloody

comparative bloodier · superlative bloodiest · alternative obsolete bloudy · alternative bl**dy

1. Covered in blood.

   All that remained of his right hand after the accident was a bloody stump.

   2 more examples

   And, as she fled, her mantle she did fall, / Which Lion vile with bloody mouth did stain.

   c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]

   O Antony! Begge not your death of vs: / Though now we muſt appeare bloody and cruell, / As by our hands, and this our preſent Acte / You ſee we do: Yet ſee you but our hands, / And this, the bleeding buſineſſe they haue done:

   1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 119

   Synonyms: bleeding, bloodied, gory, sanguinolent

2. Characterised by bloodshed.

   There have been bloody battles between the two tribes.

   4 more examples

   Some bloody paſſion ſhakes your very Frame:

   c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii], page 336

   I had therefore been, until now, out of the way of the bloody scenes that often occurred on the plantation.

   1846 [1845], Frederick Douglass, chapter I, in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Boston: Anti-Slavery Office, page 8

   The story of Elizabeth Bathory is one of the bloodiest in history.

   2007, Lucinda Mallows, Lucy Mallows, Slovakia: The Bradt Travel Guide, page 169

   These disaffected diplomats said they would like to see the US threaten future arms sales to Israel to help curtail the bloody fighting, but the proposed F-15 and precision-guided munitions sales indicate that the administration is not planning to restrict military assistance any time soon.

   2024 April 1, Natasha Bertrand, Jennifer Hansler, Katie Bo Lillis and Kylie Atwood, “Biden administration set to greenlight $18 billion sale of F-15 fighter jets to Israel”, in CNN

3. CommonwealthHawaiiIrelandUKinformalmildlyvulgarUsed as an intensifier.

   Traffic in central London was a bloody mess this morning.

   5 more examples

   There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today.

   1916 May 31, David Beatty during the Battle of Jutland

   Try to keep those bloody women's bloody heads on their bloody shoulders by somehow helping them make this whole mad impossible scheme actually work.

   1994, Robert Jordan, Lord of Chaos, page 519

   You are not to go asking anyone about who killed that bloody dog.

   2003, Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, page 64

   “You bloody fool, I could′ve stabbed you in the heart,” David said in mock anger, and then smiled widely.

   2007, James MacFarlane, Avenge My Kin, Book 2: A Time of Testing, page 498

   With 109km of fixed infrastructure, of which only 50% is utilised, Perry's message is simple: "put more bloody trains on it!"

   2024 January 24, Dyan Perry talks to Nick Brodrick, “The industry has given me so much”, in RAIL, number 1001, page 45

   Synonyms: 4ucking, accursed, bally, blasted, bleeding, bleeping, blessed, blimming

4. datedBadly behaved; unpleasant; beastly.

   Come to apologize to Charles. I was bloody to him and he's my guest. He's my guest and my only friend and I was bloody to him.

   1945, Evelyn Waugh, chapter 5, in Brideshead Revisited […], London: Chapman & Hall, →OCLC, pages 118–119

comparative more bloody · superlative most bloody · alternative obsolete bloudy · alternative bl**dy

1. AustraliaIndiaIrelandNew ZealandNewfoundlandSouth AfricaUKinformalmildlyvulgarUsed to express anger, annoyance, or shock, or for emphasis.

   "Dice are no bloody good," David said.

   1994, Robert Jordan, Lord of Chaos, page 109

   1 more example

   Walk! Not bloody likely. [Sensation]. I am going in a taxi. [She goes out].

   1912 (date written), [George] Bernard Shaw, “Pygmalion”, in Androcles and the Lion, Overruled, Pygmalion, London: Constable and Company, published 1916, →OCLC, Act III, page 153

   Synonyms: bloody well, bally, blasted, bleeding, blooming

present singular third person bloodies · participle present bloodying · participle past bloodied · past bloodied · alternative obsolete bloudy · alternative bl**dy

1. transitiveTo stain with blood.

   The butcher often bloodied his apron in the course of his work.

2. transitiveTo draw blood from (one's opponent) in a fight.
3. transitiveTo demonstrably harm (the cause of an opponent).

plural bloodies · alternative obsolete bloudy · alternative bl**dy

1. abbreviationellipsisinformalEllipsis of bloody mary.