falling sickness

noun

epilepsy.

QUIZZES

FOR POSTERITY’S SAKE, TAKE THIS WORD OF THE DAY QUIZ!

Are words your bailiwick? Take the latest quiz on the words from July 6 to July 12 to find out.
Question 1 of 7
bailiwick
a creature, variously described as a serpent, lizard, or dragon, said to kill by its breath or look.
place or source of origin.
a person's area of skill, knowledge, authority, or work.
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of falling sickness

First recorded in 1520–30

Words nearby falling sickness

falling diphthong, falling door, falling down drunk, falling of womb, falling rhythm, falling sickness, falling star, falling tide, falling weather, falling-out, falloff
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for falling sickness

  • Even the roof, not of you be it said, has the falling-sickness—it hangs by a hair.

    Stories and Pictures|Isaac Loeb Peretz

  • It is good against the Falling-sickness, and giddiness in the head, it cleanseth the Reins and Bladder.

    A Queens Delight|Anonymous

  • It was a sickness, I believe, like the falling-sickness that comes to old men; and in time I grew better and dreamed no more.

    Children of the Frost|Jack London

  • He who kisses it is preserved for seven days from falling-sickness, apoplexy, and sudden death.'

    Three Thousand Years of Mental Healing|George Barton Cutten

British Dictionary definitions for falling sickness

falling sickness

falling evil

noun

a former name (nontechnical) for epilepsy
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