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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. adj. Stained with blood.
  2. adj. Of, characteristic of, or containing blood.
  3. adj. Accompanied by or giving rise to bloodshed: a bloody fight.
  4. adj. Bloodthirsty.
  5. adj. Suggesting the color of blood; blood-red.
  6. adj. Chiefly British Slang Used as an intensive: "Everyone wants to have a convict in his bloody family tree” ( Robert Hughes).
  7. adv. Chiefly British Slang Used as an intensive: bloody well right.
  8. v. To stain, spot, or color with or as if with blood.
  9. v. To make bleed, as by injuring or wounding: The troops were bloodied in the skirmish.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. Of, of the nature of, or pertaining to blood; containing or composed of blood: as, a bloody stream; “bloody drops,”
  2. Existing in the blood.
  3. Stained with blood; exhibiting signs or traces of blood: as, a bloody knife.
  4. Of the color of blood; blood-red.
  5. Cruel; murderous; given to the shedding of blood, or having a cruel, savage disposition.
  6. Attended with or committing bloodshed; marked by cruelty: as, a bloody battle.
  7. Concerned with or portending bloodshed; sanguinary.
  8. In low language: Excessive; atrocious; heinous: as, he's a bloody fool, or a bloody rascal.
  9. Used as an intensive expletive, especially in negative expressions: as, there wasn't a bloody soul there.
  10. Same as badge of Ulster. See badge.
  11. To stain with blood.
  12. Very; exceedingly; desperately: as, “bloody drunk,”

Wiktionary

  1. adj. Covered in blood.
  2. adj. Characterised by great bloodshed.
  3. adj. Used as an intensifier.
  4. adv. Used to intensify what follows this adverb.
  5. v. To draw blood from one's opponent in a fight.
  6. v. To demonstrably harm the cause of an opponent.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. adj. Containing or resembling blood; of the nature of blood.
  2. adj. Smeared or stained with blood.
  3. adj. Given, or tending, to the shedding of blood; having a cruel, savage disposition; murderous; cruel.
  4. adj. Attended with, or involving, bloodshed; sanguinary; esp., marked by great slaughter or cruelty.
  5. adj. Infamous; contemptible; -- variously used for mere emphasis or as a low epithet.
  6. v. To stain with blood.

WordNet 3.0

  1. adj. having or covered with or accompanied by blood
  2. adj. informal intensifiers
  3. v. cover with blood
  4. adv. extremely.

Examples

  • “The phrase "bloody brilliant" seeped from his lips.”

    Breaking News: CBS News

  • “He also said coalition operations had averted what he called "bloody massacre" of Benghazi residents by Gadhafi loyalists.”

    Voice of America: Anti-Aircraft Fire Erupts Over Tripoli as More Nations Enforce No-Fly Zone

  • “He said coalition operations averted what he called "bloody massacre" of residents in the rebels' eastern stronghold of Benghazi.”

    Voice of America: US Military Says Jet Crashes in Libya

  • “In what they described as a bloody weekend in Transkei, at least five people died from gunshot wounds in other incidents.”

    ANC Daily News Briefing

  • “In the late 1960's, he would sometimes place what he referred to as "bloody bundles"-animal parts wrapped in white cloth-on the sidewalks of Rio and record the responses of passerby on videotape and with photographs.”

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com

  • “The country's embassy in Malaysia condemned what it called a "bloody attack on our beloved citizens" in a faxed statement.”

    BusinessWeek.com -- Top News

  • “There were also protesters at Syria's embassy in Tunisia, which decided to expel Syria's ambassador and end its recognition of President Bashar Assad's regime in response to what it called a "bloody massacre" in Homs.”

    USATODAY.com Feed

  • “Meanwhile, Tunisia - the birthplace of the "Arab Spring" uprising - has decided to expel Syria's ambassador in response to what it calls a "bloody massacre" in Homs.”

    Breaking News: CBS News

  • “The Governor of Canada having refused to let us obtain provisions from that province, or to pass them along the water communication to the place of treaty with the Indians; and the Indians having refused to let them pass peaceably along what they call the bloody path, the Governor of Canada at the same time proposing to furnish the whole provisions necessary, ought the treaty to proceed?”

    The Anas

  • “He suggests – instead of showing in bloody detail – the power of a monster wave.”

    2009 October 03 « One-Minute Book Reviews

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Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘bloody’.

Comments

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  • EditorMark "Bloody" has long been thought of as a profanity, falsely linked in the 1700s to "Christ's blood." It began as (and is becoming) a harmless intensive. Sep 12, 2011

  • PossibleUnderscore aka: the great Australian adjective. Jul 17, 2009

  • brtom "Did you see that bloody chimneysweep near shove my eye out with his brush?"
    Joyce, Ulysses, 12 Jan 12, 2007

‘bloody’ has been looked up 2281 times, loved by 3 people, added to 41 lists, commented on 3 times, and has a Scrabble score of 12.