Jump To:

• rest cure
  rest cure

  noun

  a treatment for nervous disorders, consisting of a complete rest, usually combined with systematic diet, massage, etc., especially at a spa or sanitorium.
• rest-cure
  rest-cure

  noun

  a rest taken as part of a course of medical treatment, as for stress, anxiety, etc

rest cure

American  

noun

1. a treatment for nervous disorders, consisting of a complete rest, usually combined with systematic diet, massage, etc., especially at a spa or sanitorium.

---

rest-cure British  

noun

1. a rest taken as part of a course of medical treatment, as for stress, anxiety, etc

2. an easy undemanding time or assignment: usually used with a negative

   it's no rest-cure, I can assure you

---

Etymology

Origin of rest cure

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rest cure rest-cure

Explain to me what that difference is and what rest really means, opposed to the old-fashioned "rest cure."

From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2023

Indeed Sir Henry Tudor, who had been 'chief of police' in Ireland before taking a senior position in the Palestine mandate, said it was "a rest cure after Ireland" for the former RIC men.

From BBC ● Jan. 23, 2022

“You will get tired, and your bones will cry aloud for a rest cure; but I promise you one thing — you will never be bored,” Massey wrote.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 16, 2015

In the old days, a rest cure was acknowledged to be an effective way back to health.

From New York Times ● Feb. 9, 2013

Plainly, a way had to be found to enforce a rest cure.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

But even a rest-cure isn't likely to restore Boracay to its former preeminence, he says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 14, 2013

Madame Chiang Kaishek, who arrived in Brazil in July for a three-month "rest-cure," prepared to travel on to the U.S. for "badly needed" medical treatment.

From Time Magazine Archive

U.S. observers were worried by his silence, his brooding on his yacht, his long rest-cure treatment at the health resort of Baguio in the hills.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Scotsman talks of her soul; he signs another man's name on his own examination paper in order to get money to provide her with a rest-cure in Spain.

From Time Magazine Archive

Your life is a rest-cure compared with mine.

From The Big Drum A Comedy in Four Acts by Sir Arthur Wing Pinero