mumps

[ muhmps ]

/ mʌmps /

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noun (used with a singular verb)Pathology.

an infectious disease characterized by inflammatory swelling of the parotid and usually other salivary glands, and sometimes by inflammation of the testes or ovaries, caused by a paramyxovirus.

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Origin of mumps

First recorded in 1590–1600; mump¹ + -s³

Words nearby mumps

mummify, mummy, mummy bag, mummy porn, mump, mumps, mumpsimus, mum's the word, mumsy, mun., munch

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

How to use mumps in a sentence

The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is required for most schoolchildren, and its protection usually lasts a lifetime.
We May Never Eliminate COVID-19. But We Can Learn to Live With It|Jamie Ducharme|February 4, 2021|Time
Before that, the fastest vaccine to receive FDA approval in the US was the mumps vaccine, which took four years.
How the newest vaccines fight Covid-19|Kimberly Mas|February 2, 2021|Vox
The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine doesn’t work in babies under a year old.
What kids need to know about getting a COVID-19 shot|Sheila Mulrooney Eldred|January 7, 2021|Science News For Students
The previous record for developing a vaccine is four years for mumps and that was more than five decades ago.
Liberal, Educated … and Anti-Vaxxer: Pandemic Births New Vaccine Doubters|Charu Kasturi|August 25, 2020|Ozy

Vaccines for measles, mumps and tuberculosis are examples of live attenuated virus vaccines.
A COVID-19 vaccine may come soon. Will the blistering pace backfire?|Tina Hesman Saey|July 10, 2020|Science News
It is the family of man—because where measles and mumps and pertussis are concerned, we are all connected.
Colorado’s Anti-Anti-Vaxxer Bill Gets Watered Down|Kent Sepkowitz|April 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Mumps can be a serious and a very painful disease and it is infectious to a marked degree.
Essays In Pastoral Medicine|Austin Malley
One evening, he saw her again in the theatre with 'Mumps,' as she called her husband.
The Child of Pleasure|Gabriele D'Annunzio
She laughed and called to Mumps to come and unfasten her veil.
The Child of Pleasure|Gabriele D'Annunzio
One is called away in the middle of a dance to a difficult case of—of mumps or something, and—well, there you are.
Happy Days|Alan Alexander Milne
It was like toothache or mumps or chicken-pox, an ignoble, complaint of which one is ashamed, but before which one is helpless.
The Honorable Percival|Alice Hegan Rice

British Dictionary definitions for mumps

mumps

/ (mʌmps) /

noun

(functioning as singular or plural) an acute contagious viral disease of the parotid salivary glands, characterized by swelling of the affected parts, fever, and pain beneath the ear: usually affects childrenAlso called: epidemic parotitis

Derived forms of mumps

mumpish, adjective

Word Origin for mumps

C16: from mump 1 (to grimace)

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

Scientific definitions for mumps

mumps

[ mŭmps ]

An infectious disease caused by a virus of the family Paramyxoviridae and the genus Rubulavirus, characterized by swelling of the salivary glands, especially the parotid glands, and sometimes of the pancreas, testes, or ovaries. Vaccinations, usually given in early childhood, confer immunity to mumps.

Cultural definitions for mumps

mumps

An acute and contagious disease marked by fever and inflammation of the salivary glands. Caused by a virus, mumps is normally a childhood disease that passes with no aftereffects.

notes for mumps

A child who has had mumps is immune from further infection by the mumps virus.