typhus
an acute, infectious disease caused by several species of Rickettsia, transmitted by lice and fleas, and characterized by acute prostration, headache, and a peculiar eruption of reddish spots on the body.
Origin of typhus
1- Also called typhus fever.
Other words from typhus
- typhous, adjective
Words Nearby typhus
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use typhus in a sentence
We become a land of “wretched camps” where “cyclical outbreaks of typhus, measles and even smallpox often sprouted from the unbilged latrines and rows of plastic tenting.”
Good News: San Diego Isn’t a Top Nuclear Target. Bad News: We Don’t Have Much of a Plan in Place | Randy Dotinga | March 31, 2022 | Voice of San DiegoOn his trip to Syria he contracted malaria and typhus, but carried on.
The Botanist Who Defied Stalin - Issue 99: Universality | Lee Alan Dugatkin | April 21, 2021 | Nautilus“Americans thought then we were at the cutting edge figuring out typhus and yellow fever,” says Bennett.
In the 18th century, German immigrants coming to Pennsylvania boarded ships plagued with typhus, dysentery, smallpox, and scurvy.
Yet those fears were borne out when, at the age of five, Allegra died of typhus.
The Man Who Invented Vampires and the Creepiest Literary Gathering Ever | Emma Garman | November 24, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Victims of typhus were simply not trying hard enough to stay healthy; they allowed themselves to be overtaken by the virus.
For only typhus and one or two other maladies are the precautions so elaborate as those needed in smallpox.
Essays In Pastoral Medicine | Austin MalleyThe specific cause of typhus is unknown, but the contagion develops and reproduces itself in the body of the patient.
Essays In Pastoral Medicine | Austin MalleyThe name typhus is from , a smoke or fog, and it indicates the befogged, stuporous condition of the patient.
Essays In Pastoral Medicine | Austin MalleyI thought at least you would have been laid up for a month with the typhus fever!
The Heir of Redclyffe | Charlotte M. YongeIn the pancreas after putrefaction, and in the fces of typhus patients, no skatol was found.
British Dictionary definitions for typhus
/ (ˈtaɪfəs) /
any one of a group of acute infectious rickettsial diseases characterized by high fever, skin rash, and severe headache: Also called: typhus fever
Origin of typhus
1Derived forms of typhus
- typhous, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for typhus
[ tī′fəs ]
Any of several forms of an infectious disease caused by bacteria of the genus Rickettsia transmitted by fleas, mites, or especially lice, and characterized by severe headache, high fever, and skin rash. Louse-born bacteria that cause typhus are especially virulent and can cause epidemics of the disease, which may be fatal in people with weakened immune systems.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Cultural definitions for typhus
[ (teye-fuhs) ]
A group of acute and contagious diseases, often fatal, marked by severe headaches and high fever. Typhus is transmitted to humans by fleas, lice, or mites that are infected with the microorganism that causes the disease.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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