dropsy

American  

[drop-see] / ˈdrɒp si /

noun

1. (formerly) edema.

2. an infectious disease of fishes, characterized by a swollen, spongelike body and protruding scales, caused by a variety of the bacterium Pseudomonas punctata.

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dropsy British  

/ ˈdrɒpsɪ, ˈdrɒpsɪkəl /

noun

1. pathol a condition characterized by an accumulation of watery fluid in the tissues or in a body cavity

2. slang a tip or bribe

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Other Word Forms

• dropsical adjective
• dropsically adverb
• dropsied adjective

Etymology

Origin of dropsy

1250–1300; Middle English drop ( e ) sie, aphetic variant of ydropesie < Old French < Medieval Latin ( h ) ydrōpisīa, equivalent to Latin hydrōpis ( is ) (< Greek hydrōpi-, stem of hýdrōps dropsy ( hydr- hydr- ¹ + -ōpsi- < ?) + -sis -sis ) + -ia -y ³

Example Sentences

Just like the dropsy testimony a few decades earlier, these stories of “plain view” and “suspicious bulges” became scripts that many police officers stuck to.

From New York Times • Mar. 18, 2018

He also wanted to know if it was safe to inoculate newborn infants or a person already suffering from dropsy, yaws or fever and the like.

From Salon • Aug. 21, 2017

Isabella, too, suffered from recurrent fevers, and died of dropsy, a general swelling of the body.

From Scientific American • Nov. 19, 2012

Then from the 3rd century B.C. it was also used for digestive troubles, tetanus and possibly dropsy.

From Slate • Mar. 4, 2012

"Well, my da will die of the dropsy one day, I've no doubt."

From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood