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lues

American  
[loo-eez] / ˈlu iz /

noun

Pathology.
  1. syphilis.


lues British  
/ ˈluːiːz, luːˈɛtɪk /

noun

  1. any venereal disease

  2. a pestilence

"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

Other Word Forms

  • luetic adjective
  • luetically adverb

Etymology

Origin of lues

1625–35; < New Latin, special use of Latin luēs plague, contagion

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.

It is only when they have taken to bragging that the lues Napoleonica has set in.

From Project Gutenberg

Wishing to avoid the lues biographica, I assumed a somewhat too purely critical attitude while writing.

From Project Gutenberg

Miscarriages in a woman should arouse the suspicion of lues in her husband.

From Project Gutenberg

One week later, a “special cable” to The Times told of 503 cases of illness treated with “Preparation 606” in Berlin, including “the various forms of lues,” as syphilis was then called.

From New York Times

The mercury prevents ulcers from being formed under the mucous membrane, or cures them, as in the lues venerea; and the rhubarb is necessary to keep the bowels open.

From Project Gutenberg