The phrases nosebleed section and nosebleed seats are 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". At the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Harvey Lichtenstein Theater, the Gallery section is known locally as "nosebleed central". The reference alludes to the propensity for nasal hemorrhage at high altitudes, usually owing to lower barometric pressure.
At the opposite extreme, the "nosebleed section" in a club refers to the very front of the venue, the most active part of the mosh pit, where accidental collisions can make nosebleeds common. It is used in this sense in the popular Hilltop Hoods song, "The Nosebleed Section".
Tom Petty's song Money Becomes King refers to a performer's original fans having to sit "way up in the nosebleeds".