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milk sickness

American  
[milk sik-nis] / ˈmɪlk ˌsɪk nɪs /

noun

Pathology.

  1. a disease of humans, formerly common in some parts of the Midwestern and Southern United States, caused by consuming milk from cattle that have been poisoned by eating certain kinds of snakeroot.

milk sickness British  

noun

  1. an acute disease characterized by weakness, vomiting, and constipation, caused by ingestion of the flesh or dairy products of cattle affected with trembles

  2. vet science another name for trembles

"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 milk sickness

An Americanism first recorded in 1815–25

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.