[see prec.] The action or process of letting blood; phlebotomy.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 14. Þe uttre riwle … of ower werkes, & of ower blod letunge.
c. 1400. Poem Blood-lett., in Rel. Ant., I. 189. Maystris that uthyth blode letyng.
1623. Cockeram, Phlebotomie, bloud-letting.
1651. Wittie, trans. Primrose’s Pop. Err., IV. 236. There are many that … use purging and bloud letting every yeare.
1866. A. Flint, Princ. Med. (1880), 134. The evils of bloodletting arise from its spoliative effect.
b. fig.
1883. Scotsman, 6 Sept., 5/3. Exacting the fines incurred … a form of bloodletting which would be at once wholesome and effective.
