cholera

[ kol-er-uh ]

noun

1. Also called A·si·at·ic chol·er·a [ey-zhee-, at, -ik , kol, -er-, uh, ey-shee-, ey-zee-]. Pathology. an acute, infectious disease, endemic in India and China and occasionally epidemic elsewhere, characterized by profuse diarrhea, vomiting, cramps, etc.
2. Veterinary Pathology. any of several diseases of domesticated animals that are characterized by depression, sleepiness, lack of appetite, and diarrhea. Compare fowl cholera, hog cholera.

cholera

/ ˈkɒlərə /

noun

1. an acute intestinal infection characterized by severe diarrhoea, cramp, etc: caused by ingestion of water or food contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio comma Also calledAsiatic choleraepidemic choleraIndian cholera

cholera

/ kŏl′ər-ə /

1. An infectious, sometimes fatal disease of the small intestine caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. It is spread from contaminated water and food and causes severe diarrhea, vomiting, and dehydration.

cholera

1. An acute disease , and an infectious disease , caused by a kind of bacterium that affects the intestines . Transmitted by food or water that has been contaminated with raw sewage, cholera is often fatal and is characterized by severe vomiting, diarrhea , and collapse.

Derived Forms

• ˈcholeˌroid, adjective

Other Words From

• chol·e·ra·ic [kol-, uh, -, rey, -ik], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cholera¹

First recorded in 1600–05 in sense “gastrointestinal disease” and in 1800–05 for its current meaning cholera ( def 1 ); from Latin: “disease caused by bile,” from Greek choléra; choler

Word History and Origins

Origin of cholera¹

C14: from Latin, from Greek kholera jaundice, from kholē bile

Example Sentences

Researchers across the country and around the world have tested wastewater to study everything from polio to cholera and, more recently, opioids and heroin.

From Washington Post

Scientists tested an H1N1 influenza vaccine by exposing people to the flu, and did the same with a cholera vaccine and the bacterium that causes it.

From Time

His academic research partner, the medical historian Howard Markel, had written a book about the mistreatment of Jewish immigrants in New York during cholera and typhoid outbreaks in 1892.

From ProPublica

In downtown Philadelphia, as Charles Rosenberg recalls in The Cholera Years, “a free couple of color” were found dead of cholera in a room measuring just four and a half by seven foot.

From No Straight News

Something very similar happened in 1849 when America was swept by cholera.

From No Straight News

This method works for TB, for cholera, for rabid animals—for just about everything.

From The Daily Beast

Cholera and typhoid fever are transmitted when I ingest contaminated food or drink.

From The Daily Beast

When multiple cases of watery diarrhea spread through one village, doctors feared it was cholera.

From The Daily Beast

Cholera and typhoid were rampant and overseers used pick handles to physically force miners into the shafts.

From The Daily Beast

At the time, New Orleans was a breeding ground for yellow fever and cholera.

From The Daily Beast

Then there was the cholera that came in the night to the village by the bridge-works; and after the cholera smote the small-pox.

From Project Gutenberg

Cholera broke out at Lexington, Ky., number of deaths to August 1st, 502.

From Project Gutenberg

Added to this, an epidemic of cholera had just broken out in the town, and the childrens maid nearly fell a victim to the disease.

From Project Gutenberg

Four months after Zinadas marriage my mother was taken ill with cholera.

From Project Gutenberg

The first case of cholera asphixia in America occurred on this day at Quebec.

From Project Gutenberg