hemorrhage

1 of 2

noun

hem·​or·​rhage ˈhe-mə-rij 

ˈhem-rij

1

medical : a copious or heavy discharge of blood from the blood vessels

a cerebral hemorrhage

postpartum hemorrhage

stop the hemorrhage

2

: a rapid and uncontrollable loss or outflow

a financial hemorrhage

hemorrhagic

ˌhe-mə-ˈra-jik 

adjective

hemorrhage

2 of 2

verb

hemorrhaged; hemorrhaging

intransitive verb

: to undergo heavy or uncontrollable bleeding

began to hemorrhage after the surgery

transitive verb

: to lose rapidly and uncontrollably

The company is hemorrhaging money.

Did you know?

A hemorrhage usually results from either a severe blow to the body or from medication being taken for something else. Though many hemorrhages aren't particularly serious, those that occur in the brain (cerebral hemorrhages) can be life-threatening. In older people, hemorrhages are often caused by blood-thinning medication taken to prevent heart attacks. A bruise (or hematoma) is a hemorrhage close enough to the surface of the skin to be visible. Hemorrhage is also a verb, which isn't always used to talk about actual blood; thus, we may hear that a business is hemorrhaging money, or that the U.S. has been hemorrhaging industrial jobs for decades. Be careful when writing hemorrhage; it's not an easy word to spell.

Examples of hemorrhage in a Sentence

Noun

The patient suffered a cerebral hemorrhage.

There is a possibility of hemorrhage with the procedure.

Verb

The patient began to hemorrhage after the surgery.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Filmmaker and photographer Rachel Elizabeth Seed doesn’t have any memories of her mother, the renowned journalist Sheila Turner Seed, who died of a brain hemorrhage at the age of 42 when Rachel was only 18 months old. —David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 20 Nov. 2024

The first night home from the hospital, Sonny went out while his wife laid on the bathroom floor passed out from a hemorrhage. —Brittany Spanos, Rolling Stone, 20 Nov. 2024

Verb

The ramp-up in production that was supposed to help cash flow has been undercut by the recent strike, and the defense and space business continues to hemorrhage money. —Jessica Mathews, Fortune, 13 Oct. 2024

In this case, it would be used to prevent me from hemorrhaging to death, the way women used to do quite often due to complications in pregnancy and childbirth. —Lisa Ann Walter, Glamour, 10 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

Latin haemorrhagia, from Greek haimorrhagia, from haimo- hem- + -rrhagia

First Known Use

Noun

1671, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1928, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Kids Definition

hemorrhage

1 of 2 noun

hem·​or·​rhage ˈhem-(ə-)rij 

: a great loss of blood from the blood vessels especially when caused by injury

hemorrhagic

ˌhem-ə-ˈraj-ik 

adjective

hemorrhage

2 of 2 verb

hemorrhaged; hemorrhaging

: to bleed heavily or uncontrollably

Medical Definition

hemorrhage

1 of 2 noun

hem·​or·​rhage

variants or chiefly British haemorrhage

ˈhem-(ə-)rij 

: a copious discharge of blood from the blood vessels

hemorrhagic adjective

or chiefly British haemorrhagic

ˌhem-ə-ˈraj-ik 

hemorrhage

2 of 2 intransitive verb

variants or chiefly British haemorrhage

hemorrhaged; hemorrhaging

: to undergo heavy or uncontrollable bleeding