flesh and blood

noun

1

: corporeal nature as composed of flesh and of blood

2

: near kindred

—used chiefly in the phrase one's own flesh and blood

3

: substance, reality

Examples of flesh and blood in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The script itself offers up plenty of solid laughs as characters bumble around searching for connections of the flesh and blood variety when not getting their heads chopped off. —David John Chávez, The Mercury News, 24 Jan. 2025

The red surrounding this mandala’s central deity is a Buddhist symbol of purity, but also a reminder that purity starts with the flesh and blood that everybody gets for free. —Jackson Arn, The New Yorker, 2 Jan. 2025

The government’s rejection of its citizens’ efforts for change is personal to him—as devastating and painful, the film suggests, as having a father turn against his own flesh and blood. —Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 8 Dec. 2024

An opponent that feels no pain or fear, and who is immune to gunfire, is not like one made of flesh and blood. —David Hambling, Forbes, 20 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

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

Rhymes for flesh and blood

• waterflood
• bud
• crud
• dud
• flood
• mud
• rud
• scud
• spud
• stud
• thud
• lifeblood