Bloodsport or blood sport is a category of sports or entertainment that involves any sport or entertainment that causes bloodshed, in any game, sport or contest involving bloodshed and defined by Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary as "a sport or contest (as hunting or cockfighting) involving bloodshed" which may be further exampled by human-baiting as a blood sport involving the baiting of humans or human-animal blood sport exampled by the ancient Roman venatio. On the other hand Cambridge Online Dictionary defines blood sport as any sport that involves animals being killed or hurt to make the people watching or taking part feel excitement, which may more correctly be identified and defined as animal blood sport or human-animal blood sport since human blood sports are lacking from that definition.
Bloodsport includes coursing, combat sports such as cockfighting and dog fighting, or other activities of human-animal blood sport. These usually involve blood being drawn, and often result in the death of one or more animals.
Read more about Blood Sport: Etymology, Current Issues, List of Blood Sports, Organizations Opposed To Bloodsports
Famous quotes containing the words blood and/or sport:
“The steel decks rock with the lightning shock, and shake with the
great recoil,
And the sea grows red with the blood of the dead and reaches for his spoil—
But not till the foe has gone below or turns his prow and runs,
Shall the voice of peace bring sweet release to the men behind the
guns!”
—John Jerome Rooney (1866–1934)
“For generations, a wide range of shooting in Northern Ireland has provided all sections of the population with a pastime which ... has occupied a great deal of leisure time. Unlike many other countries, the outstanding characteristic of the sport has been that it was not confined to any one class.”
—Northern Irish Tourist Board. quoted in New Statesman (London, Aug. 29, 1969)