Bleeds

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈbliːdz/

Definitions

1. To lose blood from the body due to injury or other causes ; the extension of ink or color beyond the edge of a printed page ; when colors spread or separate in printed material causing distortion
2. The process of blood escaping from vessels inside or outside the body ; a printing technique where ink extends past trim edges ; the unwanted mixing or smearing of colors in print
3. The action of blood flowing out from a wound or cut ; ink or image that overlaps the margin to avoid white edges ; a defect in color printing where inks blur or run into each other

Etymology: "Bleeds" is simply the third-person singular present form of "bleed", so its history is the history of the verb. That verb descends from Old English "blēdan", which meant "to bleed" and was formed from the noun "blōd", "blood". Old English built many verbs this way, turning a noun into an action, so "bleed" literally means "to do what blood does" or "to produce blood." The verb has close relatives across the Germanic languages, which tells us it is ancient. German "bluten", Dutch "bloeden", Swedish "blöda" and Danish "bløde" all mean "to bleed," and each one traces back to the same root, Proto-Germanic "blōdijaną", built on "blōþą" for "blood." The shared pattern across these languages shows that the verb was already in use among the Germanic peoples long before English was written down.

Synonyms: hemorrhages, exudes, oozes, drips, leaks

Antonyms: clots, heals, stops, mends, cures