bleed someone white

bleed someone white idiom
Extort money, take someone's last penny. For example, That contractor would have bled the department white, but fortunately he was apprehended in time. Presumably this term alludes to losing so much blood that one turns pale (and perhaps also to the idea that money is the life blood of commerce). [First half of 1900s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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