bleed

B1 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ˈbliːd/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like breed /l/ vs /r/

Freq #4920

Meanings

1

verb
To lose blood from your body.

His knee was bleeding after he fell.
2

verb
(of colour) To spread or run into another area.

The red ink bled through onto the next page.
3

verb
To let air or liquid out of a system or pipe.

You should bleed the radiators before winter.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to lose blood from your body. hemorrhage

2 verb · (of colour) to spread or... run

Word family

Forms bledbleedingbleeds

Derived forms bebleedbleed-edgebleed-sheetbleed-throughbleedablebleedercounterbleedforbleedheartbleedmacrobleedmicrobleednosebleed

Related forms bless blessing blood bloody

Appears in

Idioms (1)

See all

bleeding edge
the very newest and most experimental technology, so new it may be unstable or unreliable

Proverbs (3)

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Simplified etymology

Bleed is an Old English verb from the same Germanic root as blood. That root referred both to the liquid in the veins and to descent, race, or kinship.

Etymology

From Middle English bleden, from Old English blēdan (“to bleed”), from Proto-West Germanic *blōdijan, from Proto-Germanic *blōþijaną (“to bleed”), from *blōþą (“blood”). Cognates Cognate with Scots blede, bleid (“to bleed”), Saterland Frisian bläide (“to bleed”), West Frisian bliede (“to bleed”), Dutch bloeden (“to bleed”), Low German blöden (“to bleed”), German bluten (“to bleed”), Danish bløde (“to bleed”), Swedish blöda (“to bleed”).

bleden Middle English blēdan Old English *blōdijan Proto-West Germanic *blōþijaną Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# bleed

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈbliːd/
**Frequency rank:** 4920

## Meanings
1. To lose blood from your body.
2. (of colour) To spread or run into another area.
3. To let air or liquid out of a system or pipe.

## Examples
- His knee was bleeding after he fell.
- The red ink bled through onto the next page.
- You should bleed the radiators before winter.

## Derived Forms
- bebleed
- bleed-edge
- bleed-sheet
- bleed-through
- bleedable
- bleeder
- counterbleed
- forbleed
- heartbleed
- macrobleed
- microbleed
- nosebleed

## Related Forms
- bless
- blessing
- blood
- bloody

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: bleden
- Root: blēdan
- Root: *blōdijan
- Root: *blōþijaną

## Etymology
From Middle English bleden, from Old English blēdan (“to bleed”), from Proto-West Germanic *blōdijan, from Proto-Germanic *blōþijaną (“to bleed”), from *blōþą (“blood”). Cognates Cognate with Scots blede, bleid (“to bleed”), Saterland Frisian bläide (“to bleed”), West Frisian bliede (“to bleed”), Dutch bloeden (“to bleed”), Low German blöden (“to bleed”), German bluten (“to bleed”), Danish bløde (“to bleed”), Swedish blöda (“to bleed”).

## AI Etymology
Bleed comes from Middle English bleden, from Old English blēdan (“to bleed”), from Proto-West Germanic *blōdijan, from Proto-Germanic *blōþijaną (“to bleed”), from *blōþą (“blood”). Cognate with Scots blede, bleid (“to bleed”), Saterland Frisian bläide (“to bleed”), West Frisian bliede (“to bleed”), Dutch bloeden (“to bleed”), Low German blöden (“to bleed”), German bluten (“to bleed”), Danish bløde (“to bleed”), Swedish blöda (“to bleed”).

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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