The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
PHLEBOTOMY
Definition of PHLEBOTOMY
noun
The opening of a vein, either to withdraw blood or for letting blood; venesection.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Other senses
PHLEBOTOMY carries 4 further meanings.
noun
The removal of blood from a vein, usually with a needle and syringe or other container, for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes, as in the treatment of hemochomatosis.
noun
The removal of blood from a vein with a cutting instrument, formerly done to reduce blood volume as a treatment of disease.
noun
The act or practice of opening a vein for letting blood, as a remedy for disease or with a view to the preservation of health.
noun
The act or practice of opening a vein for letting blood, in the treatment of disease; venesection; bloodletting.
Where it comes from
From Old French flebothomie (French phlébotomie), from Late Latin phlebotomia, from Ancient Greek φλεβοτόμος (phlebotómos, “that opens a vein”), from φλέψ (phléps, “vein”). By surface analysis, phlebo- + -tomy.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Ancient Greek
- Latin
- Old French
- English
3 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
12.6%
of traced words share this origin (3,695)
branch · 12.6% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, PHLEBOTOMY · 1 relative in the game
PHLEBOTOMY in a sentence
“In addition, it's wise for all of us, patients and doctors alike, to remember that blood-drawing is a medical procedure called phlebotomy that comes with benefits and risks like any other procedure.”
Dr. Cindy Haines: Should We Think Twice Before Drawing Blood?, 2011
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
PHLEBOTOMY in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 37 boards so far. 387 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 7, 28 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 144, 11 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 3 days.
First found by a player on Day 7, 28 May 2026.
Built from these letters
PHLEBOTOMY starts with P and ends with Y. Sorted, its letters read BEHLMOOPTY - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. O appears more than once.
Words that mean much the same
Near-synonyms of PHLEBOTOMY. Not interchangeable at the board - the grid decides that - but close in meaning.
Words that start PHLEBO
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 7
Could you have found PHLEBOTOMY?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 7 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER