bovine spongiform encephalopathy

[ spuhn-juh-fawrm ]

/ ˈspʌn dʒəˌfɔrm /

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a fatal neurological disease of cattle, characterized by spongelike changes in the brain and thought to be caused by an infectious prion also implicated in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Abbreviation: BSE

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Also called mad cow disease.

Origin of bovine spongiform encephalopathy

1985–90

Words nearby bovine spongiform encephalopathy

Bovet, bovid, bovine, bovine growth hormone, bovine somatotrophin, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, Bovril, bovver, bovver boots, bow, bow and scrape

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bovine spongiform encephalopathy in a sentence

Of course the participants of the sport are at higher risk for the cumulative effects of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.
The MMA Fighters Have Gone Crazy: ‘Mayhem’ Miller the Latest in a Long Line of Psycho Pugilists|Robert Silverman|October 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He sat before a wall full of badges, in a big swivel chair, his bovine features set in mistrustful concentration.
The Strange and Mysterious Death of Mrs. Jerry Lee Lewis|Richard Ben Cramer|January 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The urge to move your marine bovine sandy pollock cosmopolitan hotels will be strong.
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Chrissy Teigen Weds John Legend|Anna Klassen|September 15, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Those cells, however, were then grown using fetal bovine serum, an unappetizing by-product of the slaughter of pregnant cattle.
Can Vegetarians Eat In-Vitro Meat? The Debate Rages.|Nico Hines|August 7, 2013|DAILY BEAST

This miniaturized gym routine enabled the scientists to grow usable quantities of bovine muscle—otherwise known as beef.
The $330,000 Fake Burger|Nico Hines|August 5, 2013|DAILY BEAST
She was a plump-faced, insipid child, with fair hair and pale blue eyes, stolid and bovine in their expressionlessness.
St. Martin's Summer|Rafael Sabatini
Later, while we three cast-aways drifted with the bovine tide, he spoke to Piegan Smith.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
Bill Barry's statement that the cru-colored bovine was "lively" and could outrun his sorrel mare was, at least founded upon fact.
Dorothy at Skyrie|Evelyn Raymond
The other man was negligible—a bovine lump of flesh without personality—born to hew wood and draw water for men of enterprise.
The Hidden Places|Bertrand W. Sinclair
He realized that the bovine belonged to the gentle sex, and anything was to be expected.
The Gentle Art of Cooking Wives|Elizabeth Strong Worthington

British Dictionary definitions for bovine spongiform encephalopathy

bovine spongiform encephalopathy

noun

the full name for BSE

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 bovine spongiform encephalopathy

bovine spongiform encephalopathy

[ spŭn′jĭ-fôrm′ ]

See mad cow disease.