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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BLOOD, n.
1. The fluid which circulates through the arteries and veins of the human body, and of other animals,which is essential to the preservation of life. This fluid is generally red. If the blood of an animal is not red, such animal is called exsanguious, or white-blooded; the blood being white, or white tinged with blue.
2. Kindred; relation by natural descent from a common ancestor; consanguinity.
God hath made of one blood, all nations of the earth. Acts 17.
3. Royal lineage; blood royal; as a prince of the blood.
4. Honorable birth; high extraction; as a gentleman of blood.
5. Life.
Shall I not require his blood at your hands? 1 Samuel 4.
6. Slaughter; murder, or bloodshedding.
I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu. Hosea 1.
The voice of thy brother's blood crieth to me from the ground. Genesis 4.
7. Guilt, and punishment.
Your blood be upon your own heads. Acts 18.
8. Fleshly nature;; the carnal part of man; as opposed to spiritual nature,or divine life.
Who were born, not of flesh and blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1.
9. Man, or human wisdom, or reason.
Flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee,but my Father who is in heaven. Matthew 16.
10. A sacramental symbol of the blood of Christ.
This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for the remission of sins. Matthew 26.
11. The death and sufferings of Christ.
Being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. Rom
5:3.
12. The price of blood; that which is obtained by shedding blood,and seizing goods.
Wo to him that buildeth a town with blood. Habukkuk 2. Acts 1.
13. Temper of mind; state of the passions; but in this sense, accompanied with cold or warm, or other qualifying word. Thus to commit an act in cold blood, is to do it deliberately, and without sudden passion. Warm blood denotes a temper inflamed or irritated; to warm or head the blood, is to excite the passions.
14. A hot spark; a man of fire or spirit; a rake.
15. The juice of any thing, especially if red; as, "the blood of grapes." Genesis 49.
Whole blood. In law, a kinsman of the whole blood is one who descends from the same couple of ancestors; of the half blood, one who descends from either of them singly, by a second marriage.
BLOOD, v.t. To let blood; to bleed by opening a vein.
1. To stain with blood.
2. To enter; to inure to blood; as a hound.
3. To heat the blood; to exasperate. [Unusual.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the fluid (red in vertebrates) that is pumped through the body by the heart and contains plasma, blood cells, and platelets; "blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the tissues and carries away waste products"; "the ancients believed that blood was the seat of the emotions"
2: temperament or disposition; "a person of hot blood"
3: a dissolute man in fashionable society [syn: rake, rakehell, profligate, rip, blood, roue]
4: the descendants of one individual; "his entire lineage has been warriors" [syn: lineage, line, line of descent, descent, bloodline, blood line, blood, pedigree, ancestry, origin, parentage, stemma, stock]
5: people viewed as members of a group; "we need more young blood in this organization" v
1: smear with blood, as in a hunting initiation rite, where the face of a person is smeared with the blood of the kill

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Usage: often attributive Etymology: Middle English, from Old English bl?d; akin to Old High German bluot blood Date: before 12th century 1. a. (1) the fluid that circulates in the heart, arteries, capillaries, and veins of a vertebrate animal carrying nourishment and oxygen to and bringing away waste products from all parts of the body (2) a comparable fluid of an invertebrate b. a fluid resembling blood 2. the shedding of blood; also the taking of life 3. a. lifeblood; broadly life b. human stock or lineage; especially royal lineage <a prince of the blood> c. relationship by descent from a common ancestor ; kinship d. persons related through common descent ; kindred e. (1) honorable or high birth or descent (2) descent from parents of recognized breed or pedigree 4. a. blood regarded as the seat of the emotions ; temper b. obsolete lust c. a showy foppish man ; rake 5. members of a team, staff, or organization ; personnel <a company in need of new blood> 6. a black American male — used especially among blacks II. transitive verb Date: 1540 1. to stain or wet with blood 2. archaic bleed 1 3. to expose (a hunting dog) to sight, scent, or taste of the blood of its prey 4. to give experience to <troops blooded in battle>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a liquid, usually red and circulating in the arteries and veins of vertebrates, that carries oxygen to and carbon dioxide from the tissues of the body. 2 a corresponding fluid in invertebrates. 3 bloodshed, esp. killing. 4 passion, temperament. 5 race, descent, parentage (of the same blood). 6 a relationship; relations (own flesh and blood; blood is thicker than water). 7 a dandy; a man of fashion. --v.tr. 1 give (a hound) a first taste of blood. 2 initiate (a person) by experience. Phrases and idioms: bad blood ill feeling. blood-and-thunder (attrib.) colloq. sensational, melodramatic. blood bank a place where supplies of blood or plasma for transfusion are stored. blood bath a massacre. blood-brother a brother by birth or by the ceremonial mingling of blood. blood count 1 the counting of the number of corpuscles in a specific amount of blood. 2 the number itself. blood-curdling horrifying. blood donor one who gives blood for transfusion. blood feud a feud between families involving killing or injury. blood group any one of the various types of human blood determining compatibility in transfusion. blood-heat the normal body temperature of a healthy human being, about 37 °C or 98.4 °F. blood horse a thoroughbred. one's blood is up one is in a fighting mood. blood-letting 1 the surgical removal of some of a patient's blood. 2 joc. bloodshed. blood-lust the desire for shedding blood. blood-money 1 money paid to the next of kin of a person who has been killed. 2 money paid to a hired murderer. 3 money paid for information about a murder or murderer. blood orange an orange with red or red-streaked pulp. blood-poisoning a diseased state caused by the presence of micro-organisms in the blood. blood pressure the pressure of the blood in the circulatory system, often measured for diagnosis since it is closely related to the force and rate of the heartbeat and the diameter and elasticity of the arterial walls. blood-red red as blood. blood relation (or relative) a relative by blood, not by marriage. blood royal the royal family. blood serum see SERUM. blood sport sport involving the wounding or killing of animals, esp. hunting. blood sugar the amount of glucose in the blood. blood test a scientific examination of blood, esp. for diagnosis. blood transfusion the injection of a volume of blood, previously taken from a healthy person, into a patient. blood-vessel a vein, artery, or capillary carrying blood. blood-wort any of various plants having red roots or leaves, esp. the red-veined dock. first blood 1 the first shedding of blood, esp. in boxing. 2 the first point gained in a contest etc. in one's blood inherent in one's character. make one's blood boil infuriate one. make one's blood run cold horrify one. new (or fresh) blood new members admitted to a group, esp. as an invigorating force. of the blood royal. out for a person's blood set on getting revenge. taste blood be stimulated by an early success. young blood 1 a younger member or members of a group. 2 a rake or fashionable young man. Etymology: OE blod f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Blood Blood, n. [OE. blod, blood, AS. bl?d; akin to D. bloed, OHG. bluot, G. blut, Goth, bl??, Sw. & Dan. blod; prob. fr. the same root as E. blow to bloom. See Blow to bloom.] 1. The fluid which circulates in the principal vascular system of animals, carrying nourishment to all parts of the body, and bringing away waste products to be excreted. See under Arterial. Note: The blood consists of a liquid, the plasma, containing minute particles, the blood corpuscles. In the invertebrate animals it is usually nearly colorless, and contains only one kind of corpuscles; but in all vertebrates, except Amphioxus, it contains some colorless corpuscles, with many more which are red and give the blood its uniformly red color. See Corpuscle, Plasma. 2. Relationship by descent from a common ancestor; consanguinity; kinship. To share the blood of Saxon royalty. --Sir W. Scott. A friend of our own blood. --Waller. Half blood (Law), relationship through only one parent. Whole blood, relationship through both father and mother. In American Law, blood includes both half blood, and whole blood. --Bouvier. --Peters. 3. Descent; lineage; especially, honorable birth; the highest royal lineage. Give us a prince of blood, a son of Priam. --Shak. I am a gentleman of blood and breeding. --Shak. 4. (Stock Breeding) Descent from parents of recognized breed; excellence or purity of breed. Note: In stock breeding half blood is descent showing one half only of pure breed. Blue blood, full blood, or warm blood, is the same as blood. 5. The fleshy nature of man. Nor gives it satisfaction to our blood. --Shak. 6. The shedding of blood; the taking of life, murder; manslaughter; destruction. So wills the fierce, avenging sprite, Till blood for blood atones. --Hood. 7. A bloodthirsty or murderous disposition. [R.] He was a thing of blood, whose every motion Was timed with dying cries. --Shak. 8. Temper of mind; disposition; state of the passions; -- as if the blood were the seat of emotions. When you perceive his blood inclined to mirth. --Shak. Note: Often, in this sense, accompanied with bad, cold, warm, or other qualifying word. Thus, to commit an act in cold blood, is to do it deliberately, and without sudden passion; to do it in bad blood, is to do it in anger. Warm blood denotes a temper inflamed or irritated. To warm or heat the blood is to excite the passions. Qualified by up, excited feeling or passion is signified; as, my blood was up. 9. A man of fire or spirit; a fiery spark; a gay, showy man; a rake. Seest thou not . . . how giddily 'a turns about all the hot bloods between fourteen and five and thirty? --Shak. It was the morning costume of a dandy or blood. --Thackeray. 10. The juice of anything, especially if red. He washed . . . his clothes in the blood of grapes. --Gen. xiix. 11. Note: Blood is often used as an adjective, and as the first part of self-explaining compound words; as, blood-bespotted, blood-bought, blood-curdling, blood-dyed, blood-red, blood-spilling, blood-stained, blood-warm, blood-won. Blood baptism (Eccl. Hist.), the martyrdom of those who had not been baptized. They were considered as baptized in blood, and this was regarded as a full substitute for literal baptism. Blood blister, a blister or bleb containing blood or bloody serum, usually caused by an injury. Blood brother, brother by blood or birth. Blood clam (Zo["o]l.), a bivalve mollusk of the genus Arca and allied genera, esp. Argina pexata of the American coast. So named from the color of its flesh. Blood corpuscle. See Corpuscle. Blood crystal (Physiol.), one of the crystals formed by the separation in a crystalline form of the h[ae]moglobin of the red blood corpuscles; h[ae]matocrystallin. All blood does not yield blood crystals. Blood heat, heat equal to the temperature of human blood, or about 981/2 [deg] Fahr. Blood horse, a horse whose blood or lineage is derived from the purest and most highly prized origin or stock. Blood money. See in the Vocabulary. Blood orange, an orange with dark red pulp. Blood poisoning (Med.), a morbid state of the blood caused by the introduction of poisonous or infective matters from without, or the absorption or retention of such as are produced in the body itself; tox[ae]mia. Blood pudding, a pudding made of blood and other materials. Blood relation, one connected by blood or descent. Blood spavin. See under Spavin. Blood vessel. See in the Vocabulary. Blue blood, the blood of noble or aristocratic families, which, according to a Spanish prover, has in it a tinge of blue; -- hence, a member of an old and aristocratic family. Flesh and blood. (a) A blood relation, esp. a child. (b) Human nature. In blood (Hunting), in a state of perfect health and vigor. --Shak. To let blood. See under Let. Prince of the blood, the son of a sovereign, or the issue of a royal family. The sons, brothers, and uncles of the sovereign are styled princes of the blood royal; and the daughters, sisters, and aunts are princesses of the blood royal.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Blood Blood, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Blooded; p. pr. & vb. n. Blooding.] 1. To bleed. [Obs.] --Cowper.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. Blood is the red liquid that flows inside your body, which you can see if you cut yourself. 2. You can use blood to refer to the race or social class of someone's parents or ancestors. There was Greek blood in his veins... N-UNCOUNT: usu supp N 3. If you say that there is bad blood between people, you mean that they have argued about something and dislike each other. There is, it seems, some bad blood between Mills and the Baldwins. PHRASE: oft PHR between pl-n 4. If you say that something makes your blood boil, you are emphasizing that it makes you very angry. It makes my blood boil to think two thugs decided to pick on an innocent young girl. PHRASE: V inflects [emphasis] 5. If something violent and cruel is done in cold blood, it is done deliberately and in an unemotional way. The crime had been committed in cold blood. PHRASE: PHR after v [disapproval] see also cold-blooded 6. If you say that something makes your blood run cold or makes your blood freeze, you mean that it makes you feel very frightened. The rage in his eyes made her blood run cold... He could hear a sudden roaring. His blood froze. PHRASE: V inflects [emphasis] 7. If you say that someone has a person's blood on their hands, you mean that they are responsible for that person's death. He has my son's blood on his hands. I hope it haunts him for the rest of his days. PHRASE 8. If a quality or talent is in your blood, it is part of your nature, and other members of your family have it too. Diplomacy was in his blood: his ancestors had been feudal lords... He has adventure in his blood. PHRASE: oft v-link PHR 9. You can use the expressions new blood, fresh blood, or young blood to refer to people who are brought into an organization to improve it by thinking of new ideas or new ways of doing things. There's been a major reshuffle of the cabinet to bring in new blood... PHRASE 10. If you say that someone sweats blood trying to do something, you are emphasizing that they try very hard to do it. I had to sweat blood for an M.A. PHRASE: V inflects [emphasis] 11. flesh and blood: see flesh own flesh and blood: see flesh

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(1.) As food, prohibited in Gen. 9:4, where the use of animal food is first allowed. Comp. Deut. 12:23; Lev. 3:17; 7:26; 17:10-14. The injunction to abstain from blood is renewed in the decree of the council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:29). It has been held by some, and we think correctly, that this law of prohibition was only ceremonial and temporary; while others regard it as still binding on all. Blood was eaten by the Israelites after the battle of Gilboa (1 Sam. 14:32-34).

(2.) The blood of sacrifices was caught by the priest in a basin, and then sprinkled seven times on the altar; that of the passover on the doorposts and lintels of the houses (Ex. 12; Lev. 4:5-7; 16:14-19). At the giving of the law (Ex. 24:8) the blood of the sacrifices was sprinkled on the people as well as on the altar, and thus the people were consecrated to God, or entered into covenant with him, hence the blood of the covenant (Matt. 26:28; Heb. 9:19, 20; 10:29; 13:20).

(3.) Human blood. The murderer was to be punished (Gen. 9:5). The blood of the murdered "crieth for vengeance" (Gen. 4:10). The "avenger of blood" was the nearest relative of the murdered, and he was required to avenge his death (Num. 35:24, 27). No satisfaction could be made for the guilt of murder (Num. 35:31).

(4.) Blood used metaphorically to denote race (Acts 17:26), and as a symbol of slaughter (Isa. 34:3). To "wash the feet in blood" means to gain a great victory (Ps. 58:10). Wine, from its red colour, is called "the blood of the grape" (Gen. 49:11). Blood and water issued from our Saviour's side when it was pierced by the Roman soldier (John 19:34). This has led pathologists to the conclusion that the proper cause of Christ's death was rupture of the heart. (Comp. Ps. 69:20.)

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

blud (dam, probably from 'adham "to be red"; haima): Used in the Old Testament to designate the life principle in either animal or vegetable, as the blood of man or the juice of the grape (Le 17:11, et al.); in the New Testament for the blood of an animal, the atoning blood of Christ, and in both Old Testament and New Testament in a figurative sense for bloodshed or murder (Ge 37:26; Ho 4:2; Re 16:6).

1. Primitive Ideas:

Although the real function of the blood in the human system was not fully known until the fact of its circulation was established by William Harvey in 1615, nevertheless from the earliest times a singular mystery has been attached to it by all peoples. Blood rites, blood ceremonies and blood feuds are common among primitive tribes. It came to be recognized as the life principle long before it was scientifically proved to be. Naturally a feeling of fear, awe and reverence would be attached to the shedding of blood. With many uncivilized peoples scarification of the body until blood flows is practiced. Blood brotherhood or blood friendship is established by African tribes by the mutual shedding of blood and either drinking it or rubbing it on one another's bodies. Thus and by the inter-transfusion of blood by other means it was thought that a community of life and interest could be established.

2. Hebrew and Old Testament Customs:

Notwithstanding the ignorance and superstition surrounding this suggestively beautiful idea, it grew to have more than a merely human significance and application. For this crude practice of inter-transference of human blood there came to be a symbolic substitution of animal blood in sprinkling or anointing. The first reference in the Old Testament to blood (Ge 4:10) is figurative, but highly illustrative of the reverential fear manifested upon the shedding of blood and the first teaching regarding it.

The rite of circumcision is an Old Testament form of blood ceremony. Apart from the probable sanitary importance of the act is the deeper meaning in the establishment of a bond of friendship between the one upon whom the act is performed and Yahweh Himself. In order that Abraham might become "the friend of God" he was commanded that he should be circumcised as a token of the covenant between him and God (Ge 17:10-11; see CIRCUMCISION).

It is significant that the eating of blood was prohibited in earliest Bible times (Ge 9:4). The custom probably prevailed among heathen nations as a religious rite (compare Ps 16:4). This and its unhygienic influence together doubtless led to its becoming taboo. The same prohibition was made under the Mosaic code (Le 7:26; see SACRIFICE).

Blood was commanded to be used also for purification or for ceremonial cleansing (Le 14:5-7,51,52; Nu 19:4), provided, however, that it be taken from a clean animal (see PURIFICATION).

In all probability there is no trace of the superstitious use of blood in the Old Testament, unless perchance in 1Ki 22:38 (see BATHING); but everywhere it is vested with cleansing, expiatory, and reverently symbolic qualities.

3. New Testament Teachings:

As in the transition from ancient to Hebrew practice, so from the Old Testament to the New Testament we see an exaltation of the conception of blood and blood ceremonies. In Abraham's covenant his own blood had to be shed. Later an expiatory animal was to shed blood (Le 5:6; see ATONEMENT), but there must always be a shedding of blood. "Apart from shedding of blood there is no remission" (Heb 9:22). The exaltation and dignifying of this idea finds its highest development then in the vicarious shedding of blood by Christ Himself (1Jo 1:7). As in the Old Testament "blood" was also used to signify the juice of grapes, the most natural substitute for the drinking of blood would be the use of wine. Jesus takes advantage of this, and introduces the beautiful and significant custom (Mt 26:28) of drinking wine and eating bread as symbolic of the primitive intertransfusion of blood and flesh in a pledge of eternal friendship (compare Ex 24:6,7; Joh 6:53-56). This is the climactic observance of blood rites recorded in the Bible.

LITERATURE.

Trumbull, The Blood Covenant and The Threshold Covenant; Westermarck, The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas; Robertson Smith, Lectures on the Religion of the Semites.

Walter G. Clippinger

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Vital fluid, vital current, life-blood, life-current. 2. Posterity, descendants, offspring, children, progeny. 3. Kin, kindred, relations, family, house, line. 4. Lineage, descent, kinship, kindred, consanguinity, relationship, common derivation, common ancestry. 5. Royal lineage, royal line. 6. High birth, noble extraction. 7. Temper, disposition, feelings, spirit, courage, passion, mettle. 8. Hotspur, madcap, fiery fellow, hot spark, blade.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A riotous disorderly fellow.

Moby Thesaurus

Beau Brummel, Christmas disease, Hand-Schuller-Christian disease, Letterer-Siwe syndrome, Rh factor, Rh-negative, Rh-positive, Rh-type, Rhesus factor, acute leukemia, affiliation, agnate, agnation, alliance, ancestry, anemia, angiohemophilia, anima, animal kingdom, animating force, antibody, antigen, aplastic anemia, apparentation, aristocracy, aristocraticalness, arterial blood, atman, bane, bathmism, beating heart, beau, beverage, biological clock, biorhythm, birth, blade, blood bank, blood cell, blood count, blood donor, blood donor center, blood group, blood grouping, blood picture, blood platelet, blood pressure, blood relation, blood relationship, blood relative, blood serum, blood substitute, bloodletting, bloodline, bloodmobile, bloodshed, bloodstream, blue blood, boulevardier, bracket, braining, branch, brand, breath, breath of life, breed, brood, brotherhood, brothership, buck, cast, caste, category, character, chronic leukemia, circulation, clan, clansman, claret, class, clinical dextran, clotheshorse, cognate, cognation, collateral, collateral relative, color, common ancestry, common descent, connection, connections, consanguinean, consanguinity, cousinhood, cousinship, coxcomb, cyclic neutropenia, dandy, dealing death, deme, denomination, derivation, descent, description, designation, destruction, destruction of life, dextran, direct line, dispatch, distaff side, distant relation, distinction, divine breath, divine spark, division, drink, dude, elan vital, enate, enation, erythrocyte, erythrocytosis, essence of life, estate, euthanasia, execution, exquisite, extermination, extraction, family, fashion plate, fatherhood, feather, female line, filiation, fine gentleman, flesh, flesh and blood, flow of blood, fluid, fluid extract, fluid mechanics, folk, folks, fop, force of life, form, foul play, fraternity, fribble, gallant, genre, gens, genteelness, genus, german, globulin, gore, grade, grain, group, grouping, growth force, grume, head, heading, heart, heartbeat, heartblood, hematics, hematologist, hematology, hematoscope, hematoscopy, hemocyte, hemoglobin, hemoglobinopathy, hemometer, hemophilia, hemophilia A, hemophilia B, homicide, honorable descent, house, humor, hydraulics, hydrogeology, hypochromic anemia, ichor, ilk, immolation, impulse of life, infectious granuloma, inspiriting force, iron deficiency anemia, isoantibody, jack-a-dandy, jackanapes, jiva, jivatma, juice, kidney, kill, killing, kin, kind, kindred, kinfolk, kinnery, kinsfolk, kinship, kinsman, kinsmen, kinswoman, kith and kin, label, lady-killer, lapidation, latex, leukemia, leukemic reticuloendotheliosis, leukocyte, level, life breath, life cycle, life essence, life force, life principle, life process, lifeblood, line, line of descent, lineage, liquid, liquid extract, liquor, living force, lot, lounge lizard, macaroni, macrocytic anemia, make, male line, man-about-town, manner, manslaughter, mark, martyrdom, martyrization, masher, maternity, matriclan, matrilineage, matriliny, matrisib, matrocliny, mercy killing, milk, mold, motherhood, multiple myeloma, myelogenous leukemia, nation, nature, near relation, neutropenia, neutrophil, next of kin, nobility, noble birth, nobleness, number, opsonin, order, origin, paternity, patriclan, patrilineage, patriliny, patrisib, patrocliny, pedigree, people, pernicious anemia, persuasion, phagocyte, phratry, phyle, phylum, pigeonhole, plant kingdom, plasma, plasma cell leukemia, plasma substitute, plasmacytoma, pneuma, poisoning, polycythemia, position, posterity, prana, predicament, propinquity, pseudoleukemia, puppy, purpura, purpura hemorrhagica, quality, race, rank, rating, red corpuscle, relation, relations, relationship, relatives, ritual killing, ritual murder, royalty, rubric, sacrifice, sap, seat of life, section, seed, semiliquid, sept, serum, set, shape, shooting, sib, sibling, sibship, sickle-cell anemia, side, sisterhood, sistership, slaughter, slaying, sort, soul, spark, spark of life, spear kin, spear side, species, spindle kin, spindle side, spirit, sport, stamp, station, status, stem, stirps, stock, stoning, strain, stratum, stripe, style, subdivision, subgroup, suborder, succession, swell, sword side, taking of life, thalassemia, the like of, the likes of, ties of blood, title, totem, tribe, tribesman, type, type O, uterine kin, variety, vascular hemophilia, venous blood, vis vitae, vis vitalis, vital energy, vital flame, vital fluid, vital force, vital principle, vital spark, vital spirit, water, whey, white corpuscle