: carried or transmitted by the blood
a blood-borne disease
blood-borne pathogens

Examples of blood-borne in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
And it was not established that HIV was blood-borne until the first deaths of haemophiliacs in 1982. The Week Uk, theweek, 10 Feb. 2024 In most cases, the story ends there, with the person at the receiving end of spillover never infecting anyone else, often because the virus was initially blood-borne and had never mutated into an easily spreadable respiratory disease. Larry Brilliant, Foreign Affairs, 20 Dec. 2022

Word History

First Known Use

1885, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of blood-borne was in 1885

Dictionary Entries Near blood-borne

Cite this Entry

“Blood-borne.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blood-borne. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

Medical Definition

blood-borne

adjective
: carried or transmitted by the blood
a blood-borne disease
blood-borne pathogens
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!