Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - blood-letting

1. Blood-letting is violence or killing between groups of people, especially between rival armies. Once again there’s been ferocious blood-letting in the township. N-UNCOUNT 2. Journalists sometimes refer to a bitter quarrel between two groups of people from within the same organization as blood-letting. Hopefully a satisfactory solution can be reached without much blood letting. N-UNCOUNT