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bubonic plague

noun

, Pathology.
  1. a serious, sometimes fatal, infection with the bacterial toxin Yersinia pestis, transmitted by fleas from infected rodents and characterized by high fever, weakness, and the formation of buboes, especially in the groin and armpits.


bubonic plague

noun

  1. an acute infectious febrile disease characterized by chills, prostration, delirium, and formation of buboes: caused by the bite of a rat flea infected with the bacterium Yersinia pestis See also plague
“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


bubonic plague

  1. A highly contagious disease , usually fatal, affecting the lymphatic system . The bubonic plague is caused by bacteria transmitted to humans by rat-borne fleas.


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Notes

From 1347 to 1351, a disease known as the Black Death , similar to the bubonic plague, entered Europe from Asia and killed a large percentage of the population, sometimes wiping out entire towns. It caused widespread social changes in Europe.
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Word History and Origins

Origin of bubonic plague1

First recorded in 1885–90
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Example Sentences

The bubonic plague of the 1340s was often blamed on Jews by the Ahmadinejads of the era.

The terrible plague of the Black Death that swept over Europe from 1347 to 1350 was a malignant form of the bubonic plague.

The bubonic plague, the most fatal of all epidemic diseases, has already appeared in California and Mexico.

In visiting a case of bubonic plague the priest should be as cautious as if he were attending a smallpox patient.

A determined effort is now being made to exterminate the rat because of its connection with bubonic plague.

Bubonic plague, one of the most dreaded of all infectious diseases, is carried to man by fleas from rats.

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