bled
ˈbled 
; bleeding
; bleeding
1
a
: to emit or lose blood
b
: to sacrifice one's blood especially in battle
2
: to feel anguish, pain, or sympathy
a heart that bleeds at a friend's misfortune
3
a
: to escape by oozing or flowing (as from a wound)
b
: to spread into or through something gradually : seep
… foreign policy bleeds into economic policy …—
J. B. Judis
J. B. Judis4
: to give up some constituent (such as sap or dye) by exuding or diffusing it
5
a
: to pay out or give money
b
: to have money extorted
6
: to be printed so as to run off one or more edges of the page after trimming
1
: to remove or draw blood from
2
: to get or extort money from especially over a prolonged period
3
: to draw sap from (a tree)
4
a
: to extract or let out some or all of a contained substance from
bleed a brake line
b
: to extract or cause to escape from a container
c
: to diminish gradually
—usually used with off
a pilot bleeding off airspeed
d
: to lose rapidly and uncontrollably
the company was bleeding money
e
: sap
Cost overruns … bleed other programs.—Alex Roland
Alex Roland5
: to cause (something, such as a printed illustration) to bleed
see also bleed white
1
: printed matter (such as an illustration) that bleeds
also
: the part of a bleed trimmed off
2
: the escape of blood from vessels : hemorrhage
Examples of bleed in a Sentence
Verb
She was bleeding from the face and hands.
Doctors used to bleed their patients in an effort to cure them.
We bled air from the tank.
You'll need to bleed the car's brake lines.
Recent Examples on the Web
Aaron Cooper, CNN Money, 11 Feb. 2026
Women generally receive fewer advanced therapies for PE, like thrombectomy (a procedure to pluck out a clot), and end up with more bleeding complications and a higher rate of lingering issues, like clumps of scar tissue in arteries that can increase blood pressure.
—Erica Sloan, SELF, 10 Feb. 2026
Matt Schooley, CBS News, 10 Feb. 2026
Because bathrooms are small, builders can often undersize ductwork or skip supply vents entirely, leaving the room reliant on bleed-over heat from adjacent hallways, says Brandt.
—Asia London Palomba, The Spruce, 9 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for bleed
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Verb
The other had facial cuts and bleeding in their brain.
—Aaron Cooper, CNN Money, 11 Feb. 2026
Women generally receive fewer advanced therapies for PE, like thrombectomy (a procedure to pluck out a clot), and end up with more bleeding complications and a higher rate of lingering issues, like clumps of scar tissue in arteries that can increase blood pressure.
—Erica Sloan, SELF, 10 Feb. 2026
Noun
The investigation determined that Delgado-Garcia died from a massive brain bleed suffered during an unauthorized boxing match in New Braintree that allegedly happened under the supervision of the four instructors.
—Matt Schooley, CBS News, 10 Feb. 2026
Because bathrooms are small, builders can often undersize ductwork or skip supply vents entirely, leaving the room reliant on bleed-over heat from adjacent hallways, says Brandt.
—Asia London Palomba, The Spruce, 9 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for bleed
Cite this Entry
“Bleed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bleed. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
bleed
1 of 2 verb
bled
ˈbled
; bleeding
; bleeding
1
: to emit or lose blood
hemophiliacs often bleed severely from the slightest scratch
2
: to escape by oozing or flowing (as from a wound)
: to remove or draw blood from
bleed
2 of 2 noun
: the escape of blood from vessels : hemorrhage
a massive gastrointestinal bleed
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