noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The shedding or spilling of blood. literally, uncountable, usually

   "avoid bloodshed"

2. 2
   the shedding of blood resulting in murder wordnet
3. 3
   A slaughter; destruction of life, notably on a large scale. uncountable, usually

   "political bloodshed"

4. 4
   indiscriminate slaughter wordnet
5. 5
   The shedding of one's own blood; specifically, the death of Christ. obsolete, uncountable, usually

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6. 6
   A bloodshot condition or appearance; an effusion of blood in the eye. obsolete, uncountable, usually

Synonyms

All synonyms

bloodbathbloodbathbloodlettingbloodlettingbutcherycarnage

Example

More examples

"The police wanted to avoid bloodshed."

Etymology

From attested early forms of such phrases as "there was much blood shed"; equivalent to blood + shed, past participle of shed.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.