Lassa fever

[ lah-suh ]

/ ˈlɑ sə /

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noun Pathology.

a highly contagious viral disease, largely confined to central West Africa, characterized by fever, difficulty in swallowing, and inflammation of the pharynx, often progressing to infect the lungs, heart, and kidneys, leading to death.

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Origin of Lassa fever

First recorded in 1965–70; after Lassa, Nigeria, village where it was first identified

Words nearby Lassa fever

Lasky, Las Palmas, La Spezia, lass, Lassa, Lassa fever, Lassalle, Lassen Peak, Lassen Volcanic National Park, lassi, lassie

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Lassa fever in a sentence

Besides, victory fever had spread like wildfire throughout the Allied armies.
Hitler’s Hail Mary|James A. Warren|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The sets—which, really, were a feat of design and direction—appeared to be remnants of a Lewis Carroll fever dream.
‘Peter Pan Live!’ Review: No Amount of Clapping Brings It to Life|Kevin Fallon|December 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Future lives, careers and attitudes were being determined in this lightly regulated fever.
The Castration of Alan Turing, Britain’s Code-Breaking WWII Hero|Clive Irving|November 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Spirits in Stanleyville were high, and a local 19-year-old was emboldened by independence fever.
‘Argo’ in the Congo: The Ghosts of the Stanleyville Hostage Crisis|Nina Strochlic|November 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Take Too Many Cooks: a fever dream of a segment that aired at 4:00am earlier this week.
Jimmy Kimmel Pranks Kids (Again), Taylor Swift’s 1989 Aerobics, and More Viral Videos|The Daily Beast Video|November 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Day by day these fretting anxieties and perplexities wasted her strength, and her fever grew higher and higher.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
Père Bracasse was ill, suffering from rheumatism, bronchitis, fever and corns.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol|William J. Locke
When Stanhope entered to him, he found his guest lying on a sofa, in a high state of fever, both from his wounds and agitation.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4|Jane Porter
If the fever ends by crisis, the crisis is accompanied by a rapid and striking increase.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
The spirillum of relapsing fever can be identified by the method for the malarial parasite in fresh blood.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd

British Dictionary definitions for Lassa fever

Lassa fever

noun

a serious viral disease of Central West Africa, characterized by high fever and muscular pains

Word Origin for Lassa fever

named after Lassa, the village in Nigeria where it was first identified

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