\Blood"hound`\, n.
A breed of large and powerful dogs, with long, smooth, and
pendulous ears, and remarkable for acuteness of smell. It is
employed to recover game or prey which has escaped wounded
from a hunter, and for tracking criminals. Formerly it was
used for pursuing runaway slaves. Other varieties of dog are
often used for the same purpose and go by the same name. The
Cuban bloodhound is said to be a variety of the mastiff.