blood sport

American

noun

any sport involving killing or the shedding of blood, as bullfighting, cockfighting, or hunting.

blood sport British

noun

any sport involving the killing of an animal, esp hunting

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of blood sport

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

I, and many other young fans, had little interest in boxing, Mike Tyson or, really, any sort of blood sport.

From The Wall Street Journal

"It's a blood sport, people do have a blood thirst to watch this sport," Malignaggi says.

From BBC

"Amanda's an awful woman, of course," he said, "a backstabbing snob who treats her children as accessories and turns every encounter with her 'mum chums' at the school gates into a blood sport."

From BBC

For decades, redistricting in Los Angeles has been something of a blood sport.

From Los Angeles Times

Especially online, where pop fan allegiance can be a blood sport, the matchup became one to watch.

From New York Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023