vampire

See also: Vampire

English
Engraving of a vampire

Alternative forms

Etymology

From French vampire, from German Vampir, from a Slavic word, probably Serbo-Croatian vàmpīr (said to be an alteration of a term *upir).[1][2] Compare Russian упы́рь (upýrʹ), Polish upiór, etc.

Pronunciation
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈvæm.paɪ.ə(ɹ)/

Noun

vampire (plural vampires)

  1. A mythological undead creature said to feed on the blood of the living. [from earlier 18th c.]
  2. (colloquial) A person with the medical condition Systemic lupus erythematosus, colloquially known as vampirism, with effects such as photosensitivity and brownish-red stained teeth.
  3. A blood-sucking bat; vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) [from later 18th c.]
  4. (figuratively, derogatory) A person who drains one's time, energy, money, etc.
  5. (US, slang) A medical technician who works with patients' blood.
    • 1992, Terry Pringle, This is the Child
      Only one technician in the hospital lab, in all we have encountered, uses it. […] Eric makes no complaints other than those directed at the vampires. Brenda and I do.
    • 2000, Tracie Peterson, Colorado Wings (page 373)
      "I draw blood from patients, and then I take it back to the lab and analyze it. Sometimes, the vampires do all the sticks, that is to say the lab assistants do all the blood collections." He grinned. "We have our own language at the lab."

Synonyms

Derived terms

Descendants

Translations

Verb

vampire (third-person singular simple present vampires, present participle vampiring, simple past and past participle vampired)

  1. (transitive, figuratively) To drain of energy or resources.

See also

References
  1. “vampire” in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary.
  2. “vampire” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.

Anagrams

Esperanto

Adverb

vampire

  1. vampirically

French

Pronunciation
  • Audio(file)

Noun

vampire m (plural vampires)

  1. vampire

Derived terms

Descendants

Further reading

Romanian

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): [vamˈpi.re]

Noun

vampire f pl

  1. plural of vampiră
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