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Huntington's disease

American  
[huhn-ting-tuhnz di-zeez] / ˈhʌn tɪŋ tənz dɪˌziz /

noun

Pathology.
  1. a hereditary disease of the central nervous system characterized by brain deterioration resulting in involuntary movement and unsteady gait, cognitive impairment and memory decline, and depression or other alterations in mood, with symptoms usually appearing in the fourth decade of life. HD


Huntington's disease British  
/ ˈhʌntɪŋtən /

noun

  1. Former name: Huntington's chorea.  a rare hereditary type of chorea, marked by involuntary jerky movements, impaired speech, and increasing dementia

"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

Etymology

Origin of Huntington's disease

Named after George S. Huntington (1850–1916), U.S. physician, who described it in 1872

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The agency gives a Huntington’s disease treatment a new look.

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 19, 2026

The FDA clears uniQure to submit a Biologics License Application for AMT-130, its Huntington’s disease gene therapy.

From Barron's Jun. 17, 2026

Prasad had reportedly been involved in the decision to request a new trial for uniQure’s experimental gene therapy for Huntington’s disease.

From MarketWatch Mar. 9, 2026

Huntington’s disease afflicts about 40,000 patients in the U.S., and there are no current treatments that slow progression.

From The Wall Street Journal Mar. 7, 2026

In the 1980s, human geneticists begin to use these techniques to map and identify genes linked to diseases, such as Huntington’s disease and cystic fibrosis.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

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