Meaning
To inflict the first wound on an opponent in a fight; figuratively, to score the first point, hit, or advantage in any contest, campaign, or dispute. Especially common in sports journalism and reporting on political contests. Neutral, sporting register; mildly graphic when used of literal violence. Regional use: General English (duelling and prize-fighting origin).
Origin
The phrase comes from fighting conventions that settled matters 'to first blood': sword duels in which the first combatant to wound the other won, and later the bare-knuckle prize ring, where 'first blood' was a distinct event on which spectators bet separately from knockdowns. Nineteenth-century sporting texts preserve the literal wording; the weapon-sports manual Broad-Sword and Single-Stick (first published 1890) says of continental fencers that 'their object, like our old cudgel-players, is to draw first blood'. The figurative use was reinforced in popular culture by David Morrell's 1972 novel First Blood and its 1982 film adaptation, in which the question of who drew first blood is pivotal. A precise first figurative attestation is not established in the accessible lexicographic record, so the dating here follows the documented 19th-century literal uses.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- drawing first blood
- drew first blood
- first blood
- score first blood
Usage Examples
- The visiting side drew first blood with a penalty in the ninth minute and never surrendered the lead.
- Litigation teams know that drawing first blood in the discovery schedule often shapes the whole case.
- Her opening statement in the debate drew first blood, forcing her opponent onto the defensive for the rest of the hour.