Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun bloodletting

2 senses of bloodletting

Sense 1
bloodletting -- (formerly used as a treatment to reduce excess blood (one of the four humors of medieval medicine))
       => medical care, medical aid -- (professional treatment for illness or injury)

Sense 2
bloodbath, bloodletting, bloodshed, battue -- (indiscriminate slaughter; "a bloodbath took place when the leaders of the plot surrendered"; "ten days after the bloodletting Hitler gave the action its name"; "the valley is no stranger to bloodshed and murder"; "a huge prison battue was ordered")
       => slaughter, massacre, mass murder, carnage, butchery -- (the savage and excessive killing of many people)