Meaning & use
young blood
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
Younger people who join a group or organization and bring new energy, fresh ideas or a different outlook.
Grammar: Uncountable and treated as singular: the club needs young blood.
Patterns
- bring in young blood
- need young blood
The orchestra badly needs some young blood to attract new audiences.
The coach brought in young blood after a poor season.
Young blood is what this slow-moving company lacks.
noununcountablemedical
Literally, the blood of a young person, a topic of some medical research into aging.
Grammar: Uncountable and literal: studies of young blood in mice.
Researchers injected young blood plasma into older mice.
The study asked whether young blood could slow aging.
Common combinations
- bring in young blood
- The party must bring in young blood before the election.
- inject young blood
- The new manager wants to inject young blood into the team.
- need young blood
- The choir needs young blood to survive.
- fresh young blood
- The magazine hired fresh young blood to modernize its look.
Synonyms and how they differ
- new talent
- New talent stresses skill, while young blood stresses youth and renewal.
- fresh blood
- Fresh blood means any newcomers, whatever their age, while young blood specifically means younger people.
- new recruits
- New recruits just means people who joined; it carries no hint of renewed energy.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: young blood or fresh blood?
young blood vs fresh blood
Fresh blood refers to newcomers of any age, whereas young blood specifically refers to younger ones.
Practice
The village committee has not changed in thirty years and clearly needs some ______.
Choose one answer.
Young blood means younger newcomers who bring energy. Blue blood means nobility, bad blood means hostility, and hot blood means a hasty temper.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “young blood”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.