flu
Americannoun
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a specific variety of influenza, usually named for its point of dissemination or its animal vector.
Hong Kong flu; swine flu.
noun
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short for influenza
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any of various viral infections, esp a respiratory or intestinal infection
Etymology
Origin of flu
First recorded in 1830–40; shortened form
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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.
A spokesman for the Minnesota children’s hospital, which has two main locations in the Minneapolis area, said it is seeing fewer patients coming into its emergency rooms than during a typical cold and flu season.
The couple’s son got pinkeye and the flu at the same time.
The NHS is already under huge pressure this winter, with rising flu cases and other winter infections doing the rounds.
From BBC
Asked whether the US would continue to participate in information sharing for and development of the annual global flu vaccine, officials were not sure.
From BBC
She covered the beverage industry, then SARS, flu, Ebola and other epidemics and chronic diseases as a public health reporter in the Atlanta bureau.
Definitions 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.