chickenpox

or chick·en pox

[chik-uh n-poks]

noun

a disease, commonly of children, caused by the varicella zoster virus and characterized by mild headache and fever, malaise, and eruption of blisters on the skin and mucous membranes.

Origin of chickenpox

First recorded in 1720–30

Also called varicella.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for chickenpox

Contemporary Examples of chickenpox

In January, Barbara Walters, 83, suffered from a rare case of chickenpox, leaving her View perch for six weeks.
Did ‘The View’ Just Lose Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck?
Ramin Setoodeh
March 8, 2013

Historical Examples of chickenpox

Sometimes they break out unexpected, like chickenpox in the 'Old Men's Home.'
The Depot Master
Joseph C. Lincoln
The incubation period of chickenpox is from ten to seventeen days.
The Mother and Her Child
William S. Sadler
The reader is referred to the article on chickenpox for a consideration of this matter.
The Home Medical Library, Volume I (of VI)
Various
It causes an alarm but does not prove mortal, and is probably what we term the chickenpox.
The History of Sumatra
William Marsden
If she should do anything so domestic, half Winsted would break out with mumps or chickenpox.
The Wide Awake Girls in Winsted
Katharine Ellis Barrett

British Dictionary definitions for chickenpox

chickenpox

noun

a highly communicable viral disease most commonly affecting children, characterized by slight fever and the eruption of a rash

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

chickenpox in Medicine

chickenpox

An acute contagious disease, primarily of children, that is caused by the varicella-zoster virus and characterized by skin eruptions, slight fever, and malaise.varicella

chickenpox in Science

chickenpox

[chĭk′ən-pŏks′]

A highly contagious infectious disease, usually of children, caused by the varicella-zoster virus of the genus Varicellavirus. The infection is characterized by fever, and itching skin blisters that start on the trunk of the body and spread to the extremities. Also called varicella