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Definition 2024


blood_is_thicker_than_water

blood is thicker than water

English

Proverb

blood is thicker than water

  1. Family relations and loyalties are stronger than relationships with people who are not family members.
    • 1866, Anthony Trollope, The Belton Estate, ch. 30,
      Blood is thicker than water, is it not? If cousins are not friends, who can be?
    • c. 1915, Lucy Fitch Perkins, The Scotch Twins, ch. 5,
      The old clans are scattered now, but blood is thicker than water still, and you're welcome to the fireside of your kinsman!

Translations

References

  • Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, 1996, ISBN 0-679-44554-4, p. 32.