blood money
6
7.9
- noun
- /blʌd ˈmʌni/
:
dinero de sangre
- In some cultures, families receive blood money to help them cope with the loss of a loved one who has been killed.
- pay blood money
- spent the blood money
Examples
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You're never going to be able to spend that blood money anyway.
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I don't want your blood money
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I don't want it, it's blood money.
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I don't need your blood money
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This is blood money, Marian.
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This is blood money.
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Ringo said, "So, I'm to infer you take no interest in the blood money?"
Blog text (32) -
He was required to pay blood money (worth one-fourth of a Muslim male) to the family of the deceased.
Academic text (2007) -
Under Iran's blood money law (diyah), a woman's life is worth half that of a man.
Academic text (2004) -
In the process, the investigation briefly identifies various ethnic and religious groups, analyzes the meaning of the responses of religious minorities to state authorities, and presents a specific case study of the legal issue of blood money.
Academic text (2007)
Synonyms
A fine paid for causing injury or killing someone
How Dishonest
6
7.9
- NSFW
12
4.3
- Archaic
1
9.8
12
7.7
309
2.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
blood + money
The components 'blood' (associated with violence or death) and 'money' (payment) give a learner a general idea that this refers to payment connected with bloodshed, so the broad concept is inferable. However, the exact sense (payment for committing a murder, or culturally specific compensation to victims' families) and pragmatic nuance are metaphorical and culturally variable, so the meaning is not fully predictable from the words alone.
Etymology
Blood money comes from old customs where a family received money after someone was killed to stop more fighting. The idea of paying for spilled blood made the phrase mean 'money paid as compensation to the family of someone who has been killed'.