Hypertext Webster Gateway: "bloodsucker"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Bloodsucker \Blood"suck`er\, n.
1. (Zo["o]l.) Any animal that sucks blood; esp., the leech
({Hirudo medicinalis}), and related species.
2. One who sheds blood; a cruel, bloodthirsty man; one guilty
of bloodshed; a murderer. [Obs.] --Shak.
3. A hard and exacting master, landlord, or money lender; an
extortioner.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
bloodsucker
n : carnivorous or bloodsucking aquatic or terrestrial worms
typically having a sucker at each end [syn: {leech}, {hirudinean}]
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