blood

/blʌd/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Northern England/blʊd/

blood noun: a vital liquid flowing in the bodies of many types of animals that usually conveys nutrients and oxygen. In vertebrates, it is colored red by hemoglobin, is conveyed by arteries and veins, is pumped by the heart and is usually generated in bone marrow. Also the alternative letter-case form of Blood.

Noun (1)

blood (countable and uncountable, plural bloods)

A vital liquid flowing in the bodies of many types of animals that usually conveys nutrients and oxygen. In vertebrates, it is colored red by hemoglobin, is conveyed by arteries and veins, is pumped by the heart and is usually generated in bone marrow.
- Some insects are known for consuming blood.
- Blood started to spurt out of his hand due to the wound.
A family relationship due to birth, such as that between siblings; contrasted with relationships due to marriage or adoption. See blood relative, blood relation.
- a friend of our own blood1690, Edmund Waller, The Maid's Tragedy Altered
- to share the blood of Saxon royalty1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co....
Synonyms:

background, descent, heritage, stock
(uncountable) A person or people related to one by birth; one's biological relative or relatives.
- She may not be my blood, but we grew up together, and as far as I'm concerned she's my sister.
- An' one time a little girl 'ud allus laugh an' grin, / An' make fun of ever' one, an' all her blood an' kin; / An' onc't when they was "company," an' ole folks was there, / She mocked 'em an' shocked 'em, an' said she didn't care!1885, James Whitcomb Riley, Little Orphant Annie
(historical) One of the four humours in the human body.
The endometrial lining as it is shed in menstruation; menstrual fluid or period blood.
(countable, informal) A blood test or blood sample.
- When I got Bilbo to their surgery the vet took Bilbo in for tests. […] His bloods showed nothing wrong at all.2016, Steve Jamieson, Bilbo the Lifeguard Dog
The sap or juice which flows in or from plants.
- It is no tautology to call the blood of the grape red or purple, because the juice of that fruit was sometimes white and sometimes black or dark. The arterial blood of our bodies is red, but the venous is called "black blood."1841, Benjamin Parsons, Anti-Bacchus, page 95
- Disbudding is merely a species of pruning, and should be done as soon as the lateral buds begin to develop on the cane. It diverts the flow of the plant's blood from many buds into one or a few, thus increasing the size of the flower, [...]1901, Levi Leslie Lamborn, American Carnation Culture, fourth edition, page 57
(poetic) The juice of anything, especially if red.
- He washed[…]his clothes in the blood of grapes.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 49:11
A temper of mind; a disposition; a mood.
- When thou perceive his blood inclined to mirthc. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […]...
- Hath Cassius liu'd / To be but Mirth and Laughter to his Brutus, / When greefe and blood ill temper'd, vexeth him?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]...
(obsolete) A lively, showy man; a rake; a dandy.
- Seest thou not[…]how giddily 'a turns about all the hot bloods between fourteen and five and thirty?1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- […] it was the morning costume of a dandy or blood of those days […]1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 3, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC
Synonyms:

fop, popinjay, barbermonger, beau, blade, buck, carpet knight, cockscomb, dandy, dike
A blood horse, one of good pedigree.
(figuratively) Bloodshed.
- They came looking for blood.
- Our Father’s Death
  Would fill up all the Guilt of Civil War,
  And cloſe the Scene of Blood.1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 1
(especially African-American Vernacular) A friend or acquaintance, especially one who is black and male.
(US, slang) Lean, especially that is red.

Verb

blood (third-person singular simple present bloods, present participle blooding, simple past and past participle blooded)

(transitive) To cause something to be covered with blood; to bloody.
- The French gentleman and Mr Adderly, at the desire of their commanding officer, had raised up the body of Jones, but as they could perceive but little (if any) sign of life in him, they again let him fall, Adderly damning him for having blooded his wastecoat […]1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC
(historical) To let blood (from); to bleed.
- On Sᵗ Stephens day the Farrier came constantly and blouded all the Cart-horses.1687, John Aubrey, Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme, page 27
- Mr Western, who imputed these symptoms in his daughter to her fall, advised her to be presently blooded by way of prevention.1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society, published 1973, page 121
(transitive) To initiate into warfare or a blood sport, traditionally by smearing with the blood of the first kill witnessed.
- Roberts-Smith and his commander had made it clear the "rookie" needed to kill someone to truly become part of the squadron. They called it a "blooding". The assault patrols cleared the compound known as Whiskey 108 and declared it secure. An opportunity for a blooding emerged when a hidden tunnel...2026 April 7, Michael Bachelard, “Kill boards, trophy hunting and 'blooding': What courts have already heard about Ben Roberts-Smith's alleged crimes”, in The Sydney Morning Herald
(obsolete, transitive) To make eager for bloodshed or combat; to incite or enrage against.

Noun (2) capitalized: Blood

Blood (plural Bloods)

A member of the Los Angeles gang the Bloods, who typically wear red and have an intense and bitter rivalry with the Crips.
- My union with the neighborhood kids teaches me Bloods don't say or write words starting with c's. This is how Bloods disrespect Crips. They replace all c's with k's or b's and cross out all remaining c's in the word.2009, DaShaun "Jiwe" Morris, War of the Bloods in My Veins

Proper noun capitalized: Blood

Blood

A surname.

Also used as

blood is also the alternative letter-case form of Blood.

blood is also the alternative form of blud.

blood meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

blood in Hindi

vital liquid flowing in human and animal bodies: ख़ून xūn, रक्त rakt, लहू lahū, दम dam

blood in Tamil

vital liquid flowing in human and animal bodies: ரத்தம் rattam, குருதி kuruti

blood in Marathi

vital liquid flowing in human and animal bodies: रक्त rakta

blood in Urdu

vital liquid flowing in human and animal bodies: خُون xūn, لَہُو lahū, رَکْت rakt, دَم dam
family relationship due to birth, e.g. between siblings: خُون xūn, لَہُو lahū

More languagesFewer languages

blood in Bengali: রক্ত rokto, রুধির rudhir
blood in Telugu: రక్తం raktaṁ, నెత్తురు netturu, రక్తసంబంధం raktasambandhaṁ, రక్త నమూనా rakta namūnā
blood in Malayalam: രക്തം raktaṁ, ചോര cōra, രക്തബന്ധം raktabandhaṁ
blood in Kannada: ರಕ್ತ rakta
blood in Punjabi: ਲਹੂ lahū, ਖ਼ੂਨ xūn, ਰੱਤ ratta
blood in Gujarati: લોહી lohī, રક્ત rakt, રુધિર rudhir, ખૂન khūn
blood in Odia: ରକ୍ତ rakta
blood in Sanskrit: असृज् asṛj
blood in Sinhala: ලේ lē, රුධිර rudhira
blood in Assamese: তেজ tez
blood in Nepali: रगत ragat
blood in Pashto: وينه wina
blood in Tagalog: dugo, kadugo, kamag-anak, tagalog
blood in Arabic: دَم dam, دم damm, دَمّ damm
blood in Malay: darah
blood in Indonesian: darah, uji darah, sampel darah
blood in Persian: خُون xūn, خون xun, خین xin, دَم dam
blood in Thai: เลือด lʉ̂ʉat, โลหิต loo-hìt, โรหิต roo-hìt, สายเลือด
blood in Vietnamese: máu
blood in Myanmar: သွေး swe:
Sindhi: رت ratu
Dhivehi: ލޭ lē
Dzongkha: ཁྲག khrag

Examples of blood in a sentence

A turban and loincloth soaked in blood had been found; also a staff.1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 4, in Pulling the Strings:
Such devices mimic the way real kidneys cleanse blood and eject impurities and surplus water as urine.2013 June 1, “A better waterworks”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 5 (Technology Quarterly):
Help us. // KONMEL: Listen to the voice of your blood.1988 March 21, Heart of Glory (Star Trek: The Next Generation) (Science Fiction), Paramount Domestic Television, →OCLC:
These are "veins," full of the tree's blood.1916, John Gordon Dorrance, The Story of the Forest, page 44:

All 40 example sentences with blood

Synonyms of blood

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of blood

Forms of blood

Noun
plural	bloods
alternative form	bl00d
plural	Bloods
alternative form	blood
alternative Internet	🅱
alternative Internet	🅱️
alternative form (obsolete)	bloud
alternative form (obsolete)	bloode
Verb
third-person singular present	bloods
present participle	blooding
past participle	blooded
past	blooded

Past tense of blood: blooded

Plural of blood: bloods

Origin of blood

From Middle English blood, from Old English blōd, from Proto-West Germanic *blōd, from Proto-Germanic *blōþą, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ("to swell") + -ó- (thematic vowel) + -to (nominalizer), i.e. "that which bursts out". Cognate with Scots blude, bluid (“blood”), North Frisian blud, blödj, Blör (“blood”), Saterland Frisian Bloud (“blood”), West Frisian bloed (“blood”), Cimbrian pluat, pluut (“blood”), Dutch bloed (“blood”), German Blut (“blood”), German Low German Blood, Bloot (“blood”), Luxembourgish Blutt (“blood”), Vilamovian błüt (“blood”), Yiddish בלוט (blut, “blood”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish blod (“blood”), Faroese and Icelandic blóð (“blood”), Crimean Gothic plut (“blood”), Gothic 𐌱𐌻𐍉𐌸 (blōþ, “blood”).

When the gang was formed, the term blood, from blood brother, was common street slang, used in the 1960s by young Black and Hispanic men and returning veterans from the Vietnam War to refer to friends.

Phrases with blood

163 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with blood

15 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about blood

What does blood mean?: Blood means a vital liquid flowing in the bodies of many types of animals that usually conveys nutrients and oxygen. In vertebrates, it is colored red by hemoglobin, is conveyed by arteries and veins, is pumped by the heart and is usually generated in bone marrow.
What is blood in Hindi?: Blood in Hindi is ख़ून (xūn), रक्त (rakt), लहू (lahū). See Blood meaning in Hindi.
How do you use blood in a sentence?: A turban and loincloth soaked in blood had been found; also a staff.
What part of speech is blood?: Blood can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce blood?: Blood is pronounced /blʌd/.
What is the plural of blood?: The plural of blood is bloods.

Words near blood in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: blood (page history and authors); Blood (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-blood.ogg, en-uk-blood.ogg.

Cite this entry: “blood.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/blood. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.