pox
Americannoun
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a disease characterized by multiple skin pustules, as smallpox.
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Also called soil rot. Plant Pathology. a disease of sweet potatoes, characterized by numerous pitlike lesions on the roots, caused by a fungus, Streptomyces ipomoea.
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(used as an interjection to express distaste, rejection, aversion, etc.).
A pox on you and your bright ideas!
noun
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any disease characterized by the formation of pustules on the skin that often leave pockmarks when healed
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an informal name for syphilis
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archaic (interjection) an expression of intense disgust or aversion for someone
Etymology
Origin of pox
1540–50 (earlier as surname); spelling variant of pocks, plural of pock
Explanation
A pox is an illness, especially one that's particularly contagious and causes blisters or rashes. Today, most poxes are preventable through vaccines. The most devastating of the poxes was probably smallpox, a viral disease that killed around 500 million people during the 20th century before being officially eradicated in 1980. A more common pox is chickenpox, which is highly infectious and can be fatal but is not as deadly. What these illnesses have in common is scarring blisters, once known themselves as pox, from pock, "pustule or blister."
Vocabulary lists containing pox
"The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet," Vocabulary from Act 2
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"The Tempest," Vocabulary from Acts 1 and 2
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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 day later, Pfizer received FDA approval for a New Monkey Pox Vaccine,” one widely shared tweet falsely claims.
From Seattle Times • May 27, 2022
We’re still dealing with one unresolved pandemic, and now Small Pox Lite is on the rise?
From Slate • May 20, 2022
In September 2016, he arranged to go on a fishing trip with his mother on his boat named the Chicken Pox.
From Washington Post • May 10, 2022
In her book "Pox Americana," Elizabeth Fenn described this initiative as the "first large-scale, state-sponsored immunization campaign in American history" which historians consistently hail as one of Washington's most significant strategic victories.
From Salon • Jul. 3, 2020
Pox upon't, 'tis worse than our contemplative Hyde-Park.
From Dryden's Works Vol. 3 (of 18) Sir Martin Mar-All; The Tempest; An Evening's Love; Tyrannic Love by Dryden, John
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.
