Dictionary

bloodbath en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈblʌdˌbɑːθ/ (UK)
• /ˈblʌdˌbæθ/ (General-American)

Etymology

From blood + bath, the latter used referring to a metaphorical deluge. Compare West Frisian bloedbad (“bloodbath”), Dutch bloedbad (“bloodbath”), German Blutbad (“bloodbath”), Danish blodbad (“bloodbath”), Norwegian Bokmål blodbad (“bloodbath”), Swedish blodbad (“bloodbath”), Icelandic blóðbad (“bloodbath”).

Meanings

1. Indiscriminate killing or slaughter; a massacre.
   • There lay the steed; here lay the man; Gude friends that day did twin: They leuch na a' to the feast that cam Whan the het bluid-bath was done. 1814, Robert Jamieson, “Stark Tiderich and Olger Danske”, in Illustrations of northern antiquities […] , Edinburgh: James Ballantyne and Co., translation of Kæmpe Viser, Popular Heroic and Romantic Ballads, translated from the Northern Languages, with Notes and Illustrations, page 272:
   • He made a "Stockholm BLUTBAD" still famed in History (kind of open, ordered or permitted, Massacre of eighty or a hundred of his chief enemies there), "Bloodbath," so they name it; in Stockholm, where indeed he was lawful King, and not without unlawful enemies, had a bloodbath been the way to deal with them. 1862, Thomas Carlyle, chapter IX, in History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volume III, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC:
   • In movie terms, it suggests Paul Verhoeven in Robocop/Starship Troopers mode, an R-rated bloodbath where the grim spectacle of children murdering each other on television is bread-and-circuses for the age of reality TV, enforced by a totalitarian regime to keep the masses at bay. 2012 March 22, Scott Tobias, “The Hunger Games”, in AV Club:
2. An aggressive or very violent contest or confrontation.
   • Although the Hampden Park blood bath of '94 caused Yale and Harvard to break off football relations for the next two years, they kept close watch on each other. 1951, Tim Cohane, “Be Each, Pray God, a Gentlemen!”, in The Yale Football Story, New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, page 93:
3. (figuratively) An upset (as of a game with unexpected results, or a national presidential convention) or heavy defeat.
   • Robert Halfon, a senior Tory backbencher, warned that a general election now would be a “bloodbath” for his party. 2022 October 16, Pippa Crerar, “Liz Truss fights for survival as even allies say she could have only days left”, in The Guardian:
4. (figuratively) A large financial loss or massive layoff brought about by negative economic conditions.
   • The point is, Amodei is a salesman, and it’s in his interest to make his product appear inevitable and so powerful it’s scary. Axios framed Amodei’s economic prediction as a “white-collar bloodbath.” 2025 May 30, Allison Morrow, “The ‘white-collar bloodbath’ is all part of the AI hype machine”, in CNN:
   • In an interview after the victory, Daley sought to assure Blacks that there would be no personnel bloodbath at City Hall. 1989, “Richard Daley Wins Chicago Mayoral Race; Blacks Fail to Unite Behind Tim Evans”, in Robert E. Johnson, editor, Jet Magazine, volume 76, Chicago: Johnson Publishing Company, National Report, page 9:
5. (literally) A bath taken in warm blood used as a restorative or medical treatment.
   • On Blood-Baths: An Historical Notice. By Dr. Hecker. According to a dark tradition which is incidentally mentioned by Pliny, the ancient kings of Egypt used to bathe in human blood when they were seized with leprosy. 1834, “On Blood-Baths: An Historical Notice.”, in The London Medical Gazette; Being a Weekly Journal of Medicine and the Collateral Sciences, volume 13, London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longman, page 813:

Forms

Translations (65)

fr bain de sang (upset) · ceb madugoong (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · tr kan banyosu (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · it bagno di sangue (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · fr massacre (upset) · cmn 血洗 (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · ru кровопроли́тие (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · nl bloedbad (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · ru кро́вавая ба́ня (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · el λουτρό αίματος (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · bg кръвопролитие (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · vi tắm máu (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · ru резня́ (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · pl krwawa łaźnia (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · ja 大虐殺 (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · ja 刃傷沙汰 (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · ca bany de sang (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · hu vérfürdőben (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · ta இரத்தக்களரியை (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · fo blóðbað (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · da blodbad (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · de Blutbad (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · ar حَمَّام دَمّ (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · gl baño de sangue (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · et veresaun (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · af moordparty (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · hu vérfürdő (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · sv blodbad (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · te రక్తపుటేరుల్ని (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · bg клане (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · ja 刃傷 (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · kk қызыл қырғын (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · ka ხოცვა-ჟლეტა (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · da blodbadet (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · ky кызыл кыргын (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · tr katliam (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · sw umwagaji wa damu (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · is blóðbað (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · eo samgoveršado (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · af bloedbad (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · es baño de sangre (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · kn ರಕ್ತಸ್ನಾನ (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · id pembantaian (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · ro baie de sânge (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · fr boucherie (upset) · cmn 大屠殺 /大屠杀 (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · pl rzeź (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · pt banho de sangue (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · mi tārukenga (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · fr bain de sang (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · kn ರಣಗೊಲೆ (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · mt banju tad-demm (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · nb blodbad (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · ota قان (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · eo masakro (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · nn blodbad (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · fi verilöyly (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · pl masakra (upset) · ar مَذْبَحَة (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · ka სისხლისღვრა (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · yi בלאַדבאַט (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · pl rzeź (upset) · he מרחץ־דמים (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · uk крива́ва ба́ня (indiscriminate killing or slaughter) · es escabechina (indiscriminate killing or slaughter)