bloody nose

noun

: a usually minor wound, injury, or defeat

But for the first time the Israelis received a bloody nose, and as the news spread it was not just the Palestinians but the whole Arab world that sensed a new hero on the scene.

—David Holden, New York Times Magazine, 23 Mar. 1975

And a number of Tory MPs will likely oppose it as well, if only to give Blair a bloody nose.

—Tim Luckhurst, New Republic, 13 Aug. 2001

Word History

First Known Use

1947, in the meaning defined above

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