English noun: bloodletting | |||
1. | bloodletting (act) formerly used as a treatment to reduce excess blood (one of the four humors of medieval medicine) | ||
Broader (hypernym) | medical aid, medical care | ||
Narrower (hyponym) | cupping, phlebotomy, venesection | ||
Domain category | Dark Ages, medical specialty, medicine, Middle Ages | ||
2. | bloodletting (act) indiscriminate slaughter | ||
Samples | A bloodbath took place when the leaders of the plot surrendered. Ten days after the bloodletting Hitler gave the action its name. The valley is no stranger to bloodshed and murder. A huge prison battue was ordered. | ||
Synonyms | battue, bloodbath, bloodshed | ||
Broader (hypernym) | butchery, carnage, mass murder, massacre, slaughter | ||