Definition
Bleeding is the flow of sap from a wound or infection.
Etymology. O.E. bledan, from P.Gmc. *blothjan "emit blood" (cf. O.N. blæða, Ger. bluten), from *blotham "blood" . Bleeding heart in the sense of "person excessively sympathetic" (esp. toward those the writer deems not to deserve it) is first attested 1958 according to OED, but said by many to have been popularized with ref. to liberals (esp. Eleanor Roosevelt) in 1930s by newspaper columnist Westbrook Pegler (1894-1969), though quotations are wanting. Bleeding in a fig. sense of "generous" is from late 16c., but the exact image here may be of the "bleeding heart of Jesus."