Nosebleed section
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The phrase nosebleed section is applied tongue-in-cheek to those seats of a public arena, usually an athletic stadium or gymnasium, that are highest and, usually, farthest from the desired activity. A common reference to having seats at the upper tiers of a stadium is "sitting in the nosebleed section" or "nosebleed seats."
The reference alludes to the propensity for nasal hemorrhage at high altitudes, usually owing to lower barometric pressure. Nasal hemorrhage may occur at high altitudes due to the elevated difference between the ambient barometric pressure and the subject's blood pressure.[citation needed]
A similar term, nosebleeder, describes a basketball player with unusual jumping abilities.
Nosebleed in the literal sense, "bleeding from the nose," dates from the mid-nineteenth century, though the word was used as early as the 15th century for Achillea millefolium.
Other uses of the word nosebleed include "Raising the level of Congressional hypocrisy to nosebleed heights"[1] and "Interest rates that start at high and extend to very high and nosebleed".[2]
