bloodletting

noun

blood·​let·​ting ˈbləd-ˌle-tiŋ 

1

: phlebotomy

2

: bloodshed

3

: elimination of personnel or resources

4

: severe criticism

Take the English, the undisputed champions at verbal bloodletting.

—Bill Ott

: a harsh verbal or written attack

But what makes "Cinderella & Company" more than just a book-length bloodletting is Hoelterhoff's unexpected sympathy for most of the singers about whom she writes.

—Terry Teachout

Examples of bloodletting in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Indeed, if anyone thought the entertainment business’ bloodletting was over after last year’s series of layoffs, Walt Disney Co. and Warner Bros. Discovery disabused them of that notion in recent days. —Ryan Faughnder, Los Angeles Times, 10 June 2025

In the midst of such bloodletting, the launch of such a project may seem surprising at best and a waste of resources at worst. —Kendall Bianchi, Foreign Affairs, 18 Sep. 2017

That bloodletting is after accounting for the market’s bounce late Monday and into Tuesday. —Brendan Coffey, Sportico.com, 9 Apr. 2025

Both of these aspects set the tone for the raw carnage that would be reproduced in Doom Eternal (2020), a solid sequel that doubled down on the gratuitous bloodletting and amped up the industrial sound of the Doom (2016) OST to a new level. —Kazuma Hashimoto, Rolling Stone, 31 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for bloodletting

• abetting
• begetting
• besetting
• briquetting
• forgetting
• offsetting
• pipetting
• regretting
• resetting
• subletting
• typesetting
• upsetting

Kids Definition

bloodletting

noun

blood·​let·​ting ˈbləd-ˌlet-iŋ 

1

: the opening of a vein for the purpose of drawing blood

2

: bloodshed sense 2

Medical Definition

bloodletting

noun

blood·​let·​ting -ˌlet-iŋ 

: phlebotomy