bled dry
Exhausted of resources
Bled dry describes having all resources, money, or energy completely drained away, leaving nothing left.
The phrase derives from the old medical practice of bloodletting, where patients were sometimes bled to the point of death.
Today it's almost always figurative: The lawsuit bled the company dry.
After years of caregiving, she felt emotionally bled dry.
The image suggests a slow, systematic extraction rather than sudden loss.
- squeezedPressed firmly together
- drainedEmptied of resources
- leechedExtracted by clinging
- milkedDrew liquid from
- parasitizedHosting a dependent organism
taken for a ride · exhausted · exploited · extorted · nickel and dimed · depleted · spent · running on empty · pillaged · impoverished · emptied · overused · plundered · enervated · consumed · burned out · run ragged · sapped