bleed

verb (past and past participle bled /blɛd/)

• 1 [no object] lose blood from the body as a result of injury or illness:the cut was bleeding steadily some casualties were left to bleed to death (as noun bleeding)the bleeding has stopped now

• 2 [with object] draw blood from (someone), especially as a former method of treatment in medicine: he didn’t bleed his patients with leeches
• informal drain (someone) of money or resources:his policy of attempting to bleed British unions of funds

• 3 [with object] allow (fluid or gas) to escape from a closed system through a valve: open the isolating valves and bleed air from the pump chamber
• release fluid or gas from (a closed system) by allowing air to escape through a valve:air can be got rid of by bleeding the radiator at the vent

• 4 [no object] (of a liquid substance such as dye or colour) seep into an adjacent colour or area:I worked loosely with the oils, allowing colours to bleed into one another
• Printing (with reference to an illustration or design) print or be printed so that it runs off the page after trimming:the picture bleeds on three sides

noun

• 1an instance of bleeding:a lot of blood was lost from the placental bleed

• 2 [mass noun] the escape of fluid or gas from a closed system through a valve: check the amount of air bleed from the compressor [as modifier]:open the bleed valve

• 3 Printing an instance of printing an illustration or design so as to leave no margin after the page has been trimmed:the picture has an unfortunate bleed
• [mass noun] the seeping of a dye or colour into an adjacent colour or area:colour bleed is apparent on brighter hues