haemorrhage

haemorrhage

See also: hæmorrhage

English

Alternative forms

• hemorrhage (North American)
• hæmorrhage (obsolete)

Etymology

From Latin haemorrhagia, from Ancient Greek αἱμορραγία (haimorrhagía, “a violent bleeding”), from αἱμορραγής (haimorrhagḗs, “bleeding violently”), from αἷμα (haîma, “blood”) + -ραγία (-ragía), from ῥηγνύναι (rhēgnúnai, “to break, burst”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhɛməɹɪdʒ/, /ˈhɛmɹɪdʒ/

Noun

haemorrhage (countable and uncountable, plural haemorrhages)

1. (British spelling, pathology) A heavy release of blood within or from a body.

   We got news that he died of a haemorrhage!

2. (figuratively) A sudden or significant loss
   • 2013, Simon Jenkins, Gibraltar and the Falklands deny the logic of history (in The Guardian, 14 August 2013)

     Relics of the British empire now mostly survive in the interstices of the global economy. They are the major winners from the fiscal haemorrhage that has resulted from financial globalisation.

Synonyms

• bleed
• bleeding
• hæmorrhœa
• hæmatorrhœa

Related terms

• haemorrhagic

Translations

hemorrhage — see hemorrhage

Verb

haemorrhage (third-person singular simple present haemorrhages, present participle haemorrhaging, simple past and past participle haemorrhaged)

1. (British spelling, intransitive) To bleed copiously.

   It’s haemorrhaging now!

2. (transitive, figuratively) To lose (something) in copious and detrimental quantities.

   The company haemorrhaged money until eventually it went bankrupt.