Definition of "bloodletting" [blood•let•ting]

• Bloodshed. (noun)
• The removal of blood, usually from a vein, as a therapeutic measure. (noun)
• The laying off of personnel or the elimination of resources. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The AMS blamed PM Allawi for what it characterized as the bloodletting in Fallujah: "The interim Government of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi bears full legal and historical responsibility for the war of annihilation Fallujah is exposed to today at the hands of the occupation forces and militias of some parties in the interim Government.""
• "Certainly, Labour frontbenchers say that once the scale of the budgetary bloodletting is made explicit, they will have their best chance yet to win back disgruntled supporters."
• "His latest thinking, indicative of much more bloodletting, is spelled out in a brief commentary he just fired off to his newsletter subscribers."