bloody
See also: -bloody-
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- bloudy (obsolete)
Etymology 1Edit
From Middle English blody, blodi, from Old English blōdiġ, blōdeġ (“bloody”), from Proto-Germanic *blōþagaz (“bloody”), equivalent to blood + -y. Cognate with Dutch bloedig (“bloody”), German blutig (“bloody”), Danish blodig (“bloody”), Swedish blodig (“bloody”), Icelandic blóðugur (“bloody”). See Wikipedia for thoughts on sense evolution.
PronunciationEdit
- (UK, US) IPA(key): /ˈblʌ.diː/
- (General Australian) IPA(key): /ˈbɫɐ.diː/
- (Indian English) IPA(key): /ˈblɜ.ɖiː/
- Rhymes: -ʌdi
Audio (US) (file) Audio (UK) (file) Audio (AU) (file)
AdjectiveEdit
bloody (comparative bloodier, superlative bloodiest)
- Covered in blood.
- Synonyms: bleeding, bloodied, gory, sanguinolent
- All that remained of his right hand after the accident was a bloody stump.
- c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
- And, as she fled, her mantle she did fall, / Which Lion vile with bloody mouth did stain.
- 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 119:
- O Antony! Begge not your death of vs: / Though now we muſt appeare bloody and cruell, / As by our hands, and this our preſent Acte / You ſee we do: Yet ſee you but our hands, / And this, the bleeding buſineſſe they haue done:
- Characterised by bloodshed.
- There have been bloody battles between the two tribes.
- c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii], page 336:
- Some bloody paſſion ſhakes your very Frame:
- 1846 [1845], Frederick Douglass, chapter I, in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Boston: Anti-Slavery Office, page 8:
- I had therefore been, until now, out of the way of the bloody scenes that often occurred on the plantation.
- 2007, Lucinda Mallows, Lucy Mallows, Slovakia: The Bradt Travel Guide, page 169
- The story of Elizabeth Bathory is one of the bloodiest in history.
- (informal, rare in Canada, US, common in Newfoundland, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa mildly vulgar) Used as an intensifier.
- Traffic in central London was a bloody mess this morning.
- 1916 May 31, David Beatty during the Battle of Jutland:
- There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today.
- 1994, Robert Jordan, Lord of Chaos, page 519:
- Try to keep those bloody women's bloody heads on their bloody shoulders by somehow helping them make this whole mad impossible scheme actually work.
- 2003, Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, page 64
- You are not to go asking anyone about who killed that bloody dog.
- 2007, James MacFarlane, Avenge My Kin, Book 2: A Time of Testing, page 498
- “You bloody fool, I could′ve stabbed you in the heart,” David said in mock anger, and then smiled widely.
- (dated) Badly behaved; unpleasant; beastly.
- 1945, Evelyn Waugh, chapter 5, in Brideshead Revisited […], 3rd edition, London: Chapman & Hall, →OCLC, book 1 (Et in Arcadia Ego), pages 118–119:
- Come to apologize to Charles. I was bloody to him and he's my guest. He's my guest and my only friend and I was bloody to him.
SynonymsEdit
- (intensifier): bally, blasted, bleeding (chiefly British Cockney), blinking, blooming, damn, damned, dang, darned, doggone, flaming, freaking, fricking, frigging, fucking, goddam / goddamn, goddamned, godforsaken (rare), wretched, rotten
- See also Thesaurus:damned
Derived termsEdit
- Bloody Caesar
- bloody dock
- bloody 'ell
- bloody flux
- bloody heck
- bloody hell
- bloody mary, Bloody Mary
- bloody Nora
- bloody nose
- bloody noun
- bloody oath
- bloody show
- bloody sweat
- bloody up
- bloody warrior
- bloody William
- bloody-handed
- bloody-handedly
- bloody-handedness
- bloody-minded
- bloody-mindedly
- bloody-mindedness
- bloody-warrior
- call a spade a bloody shovel
- give someone a bloody nose
- my bloody oath
- scream bloody murder
- wave the bloody shirt
TranslationsEdit
covered in blood
|
characterised by great bloodshed
|
intensifier
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
AdverbEdit
bloody (comparative more bloody, superlative most bloody)
- (rare in US, Canada, common in Newfoundland, UK, Ireland, South Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand, intensifier, now vulgar) Used to express anger, annoyance, shock, or for emphasis.
- Synonyms: bloody well, bally, blasted, bleeding, blooming
- 1912, George Bernard Shaw, “Act III”, in Pygmalion[1]:
- LIZA. Walk! Not bloody likely.
- 1994, Robert Jordan, Lord of Chaos, page 109:
- "Dice are no bloody good," David said.
TranslationsEdit
intensifier
VerbEdit
bloody (third-person singular simple present bloodies, present participle bloodying, simple past and past participle bloodied)
- (transitive) To stain with blood.
- The butcher often bloodied his apron in the course of his work.
- (transitive) To draw blood from (one's opponent) in a fight.
- (transitive) To demonstrably harm (the cause of an opponent). (Can we add an example for this sense?)
TranslationsEdit
to draw blood
|
Etymology 2Edit
NounEdit
bloody (plural bloodies)