rhinovirus

American  

[rahy-noh-vahy-ruhs, rahy-noh-vahy-] / ˌraɪ noʊˈvaɪ rəs, ˈraɪ noʊˌvaɪ- /

noun

rhinoviruses plural

1. any of a varied and widespread group of picornaviruses responsible for many respiratory diseases, including the common cold.

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rhinovirus British  

/ ˈraɪnəʊˌvaɪrəs /

noun

1. any of various viruses that occur in the human respiratory tract and cause diseases, such as the common cold

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rhinovirus Scientific  

/ rī′nō-vī′rəs /

1. Any of a group of viruses of the family Picornaviridae and the genus Rhinovirus that cause the common cold.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• rhinoviruses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of rhinovirus

First recorded in 1960–65; rhino- + virus

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rhinovirus rhinoviruses

The findings suggest that the body's reaction to rhinovirus often matters more than the virus itself.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 22, 2026

How your nasal-passage cells respond to the rhinovirus helps determine whether you get sick and how bad you feel, according to a new study published Monday in the journal Cell Press Blue.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 19, 2026

Has that sped up the prospect of a rhinovirus vaccine at all?

From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2025

Contributing factors in his death were listed as COVID-19, adenovirus and rhinovirus, the autopsy showed.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 16, 2024

Imagine someone sneezing in a crowded elevator, releasing into the air ten variants of a rhinovirus, the kind of virus that causes the common cold.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Winter brings a surge of respiratory illnesses, including rhinoviruses, the most frequent cause of the common cold.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 19, 2026

And the reason there is not a rhinovirus vaccine is because there are about 180 different rhinoviruses circulating, and they’re all distinct from each other.

From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2025

In Los Angeles County, 15% of surveillance-lab-tested specimens are coming back positive for rhinoviruses or enteroviruses.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 27, 2023

Untangling such interference hasn’t been easy given the number of respiratory viruses—coronaviruses, rhinoviruses, adenoviruses, RSV, and influenza are just among the best known—and the many infections that escape notice.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 17, 2022

These are not caused by the "flu" virus strains, but instead by, usually, any of over 200 other virus strains, most commonly rhinoviruses.

From New York Times ● Jan. 18, 2018