dehydration
Americannoun
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dehydrations
plural
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the act or process of dehydrating.
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an abnormal loss of water from the body, especially from illness or physical exertion.
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The process of losing or removing water or moisture.
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A condition caused by the excessive loss of water from the body, which causes a rise in blood sodium levels. Since dehydration is most often caused by excessive sweating, vomiting, or diarrhea, water loss is usually accompanied by a deficiency of electrolytes. If untreated, severe dehydration can lead to shock.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of dehydration
Explanation
Dehydration is what happens when something has water removed from it. Dehydration makes people extremely thirsty, and it can make plants grow droopy and brown. During dehydration, moisture is lost without being replaced. In humans, dehydration can happen during strenuous exercise or in extreme heat — or simply when someone doesn't drink enough water for a certain length of time. A grape becomes a raisin through dehydration, shriveling and drying as moisture is removed. Dehydration and dehydrate, first used only by scientists, have a Greek root, hydro, "water."
Vocabulary lists containing dehydration
Elements of the Universe: Hydr, Hydro ("Water")
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Dry
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hydr, hydro
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The symptoms were frighteningly similar and frustratingly non-specific: fever, rashes, weakness, dehydration and, in some cases, seizures.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
Folk singer Ray LaMontange was treated for heat-related dehydration after collapsing onstage during a weekend performance amid triple-digit heat in Nashville.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Bad things happen when we don’t get enough of it, the main one being dehydration, a leading preventable cause of hospitalizations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
He was taken to hospital in February on the Spanish island of Tenerife while suffering from an infection and dehydration.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
He wasn’t sure if his eyes were being tricked or if it was real, but Derek looked thinner to him and he wondered if getting thinner was a sign of dehydration.
From "The River" by Gary Paulsen
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
