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

The Dayton Peace Accords spring to mind, named for the city that hosted talks ending the three years of bloodletting and civil war in Bosnia in the early 1990. —Nic Robertson, CNN Money, 21 Apr. 2026

And although allowing ships through would stanch the immediate bloodletting in the energy sector, other sectors might not spring back so quickly. —Paddy Hirsch, NPR, 16 Apr. 2026

But while a Netflix-WB union would have resulted in a bit less money overall being spent on films, Par-WB figures to be a bloodletting. —Josef Adalian, Vulture, 27 Feb. 2026

On their first proper album in nine years, the Boston metalcore veterans shift between blistering political bloodlettings and moody reckonings with mortality. —Patrick Lyons, Pitchfork, 10 Feb. 2026

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