Definition of "bloodguilt" []

• The fact or state of being guilty of murder or bloodshed. (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 Torah commands: “A man or a woman who has a ghost or a familiar spirit shall be put to death; they shall be pelted with stones - their bloodguilt shall be upon them” (Lev. 20: 27), in this the Rabbis find an allusion to the instance of Saul: the “man” alludes to Saul and “woman” to the female necromancer."
• "In order to usurp the throne, David uses a three-year famine as a pretext to turn over the remaining seven eligible Saulide male heirs to the Gibeonites for ritual execution to atone for the bloodguilt Saul was supposed to have incurred against this group."
• "Even if I'm on the record as saying "I want you or somebody to kill him," the larger circumstances may ensure that outcome for me anyway, WITHOUT criminal bloodguilt attaching itself in MY case."