blood is thicker than water

English

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Pronunciation

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Proverb

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blood is thicker than water

  1. (family, idiomatic) Family relations and loyalties are stronger than relationships with people who are not family members.
    • 1865 May 15 – 1866 January 1, Anthony Trollope, “Mary Belton”, in The Belton Estate. [], volume III, London: Chapman and Hall, [], published December 1865 (indicated as 1866), →OCLC, page 201:
      It seems as though you had come to be so very near to us; and blood is thicker than water, is it not? If cousins are not friends, who can be?
    • c. 1915, Lucy Fitch Perkins, chapter 5, in The Scotch Twins:
      The old clans are scattered now, but blood is thicker than water still, and you're welcome to the fireside of your kinsman!
    • 2019 March 6, “Binary Star”, in Benjamin and mpi (lyrics), SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] (music), R∃/MEMBER, performed by Uru, Sacra Music, →vgmdb:
      You know blood is thicker than water / But you just want everyone to get along

Translations

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References

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  • Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, 1996, →ISBN, p. 32.