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

But more recently — around Hollywood if not across the broader culture — Blumhouse has become synonymous with a different kind of cinematic bloodletting. —Chris Lee, Vulture, 20 Oct. 2025

Much bloodletting, and a whole lotta rockin', ensues. —Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Oct. 2025

Azerbaijan also counters by citing its own refugees who were forced to flee Armenia during the bloodletting of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, along with the hundreds of thousands of Karabakh Azerbaijanis who were forced to flee following the defeat. —Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 21 Sep. 2025

The bloodletting has seemingly only just begun in a tense postscript of the first game between the countries since a gun massacre of tourists in April in Kashmir pushed nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan to the brink of war. —Tristan Lavalette, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 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