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Definition of Blood in the Water
1. Proper noun. A particularly violent water polo match between the USSR and Hungary, played at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics contemporaneously with the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Images of a Hungarian player leaving the pool with a bleeding head wound led to exaggerated reports of blood in the water. ¹
2. Noun. (idiomatic) In a competitive situation, the exhibition of apparent weakness or vulnerability by one party, especially when this leads to a feeling of vulnerability or greater pressure to perform on the part of the weak party, and/or enhanced expectation of victory by the other(s). ¹
3. Proper noun. (alternative spelling of Blood in the Water) ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com