fever

[ fee-ver ]

noun

1. an abnormal condition of the body, characterized by undue rise in temperature, quickening of the pulse, and disturbance of various body functions.
2. an abnormally high body temperature.
3. the number of degrees of such a temperature above the normal.
4. any of a group of diseases in which high temperature is a prominent symptom:

   scarlet fever.

5. intense nervous excitement:

   The audience was in a fever of anticipation.

verb (used with object)

1. to affect with or as with fever:

   The excitement fevered him.

fever

/ ˈfiːvə /

noun

1. an abnormally high body temperature, accompanied by a fast pulse rate, dry skin, etc febrilepyretic
2. any of various diseases, such as yellow fever or scarlet fever, characterized by a high temperature
3. intense nervous excitement or agitation

   she was in a fever about her party

verb

1. tr to affect with or as if with fever

fever

/ fē′vər /

1. A body temperature that is higher than normal. Fever is the body's natural response to the release of substances called pyrogens by infectious agents such as bacteria and viruses. The pyrogens stimulate the hypothalamus in the brain to conserve heat and increase the basal metabolic rate.

Derived Forms

• ˈfeverless, adjective
• ˈfevered, adjective

Other Words From

• fever·less adjective
• un·fevered adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of fever¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English fefer, from Latin febr-, stem of febris; reinforced by Anglo-French fevre, Old French fievre, from Latin, as above

Word History and Origins

Origin of fever¹

Old English fēfor , from Latin febris

Idioms and Phrases

see cabin fever ; run a fever .

Example Sentences

When you get a fever, your heart rate tends to increase, even before you notice other symptoms, so it can act as an early warning system.

From Popular-Science

Yellow fever, a mosquito-borne hemorrhagic disease that is common in South America and sub-Saharan Africa, annually infects about 200,000 people and causes an estimated 30,000 deaths.

From MIT Technology Review

The two cats that died were among four that had developed severe symptoms, such as jaundice and high fever.

From Science News

A high dose of the vaccine produced severe side effects such as fever in 9 percent of volunteers, but a lower dose produced a severe side effect in only 1 percent of people.

From Science News

It can scan people coming into an area to see if they have a fever.

From Science News For Students

Besides, victory fever had spread like wildfire throughout the Allied armies.

From The Daily Beast

The sets—which, really, were a feat of design and direction—appeared to be remnants of a Lewis Carroll fever dream.

From The Daily Beast

Future lives, careers and attitudes were being determined in this lightly regulated fever.

From The Daily Beast

Spirits in Stanleyville were high, and a local 19-year-old was emboldened by independence fever.

From The Daily Beast

Take Too Many Cooks: a fever dream of a segment that aired at 4:00am earlier this week.

From The Daily Beast

Day by day these fretting anxieties and perplexities wasted her strength, and her fever grew higher and higher.

From Project Gutenberg

Père Bracasse was ill, suffering from rheumatism, bronchitis, fever and corns.

From Project Gutenberg

When Stanhope entered to him, he found his guest lying on a sofa, in a high state of fever, both from his wounds and agitation.

From Project Gutenberg

If the fever ends by crisis, the crisis is accompanied by a rapid and striking increase.

From Project Gutenberg

The spirillum of relapsing fever can be identified by the method for the malarial parasite in fresh blood.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• delirium
• frenzy
• turmoil