mumps

American  

[muhmps] / mʌmps /

noun

(used with a singular verb)

1. 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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mumps British  

/ mʌmps /

noun

1. Also called: epidemic parotitis.  (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 children

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mumps Scientific  

/ mŭmps /

1. 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.

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mumps Cultural  

1. 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.

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Discover More

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

Other Word Forms

• mumpish adjective

Etymology

Origin of mumps

First recorded in 1590–1600; mump ¹ + -s ³

Example Sentences

The vaccine will be combined with the existing MMR jab, given at 12 and 18 months of age, which already helps protect against measles, mumps and rubella.

From BBC

Smith was a sickly child, contracting bronchial pneumonia, tuberculosis, German measles, mumps and chicken pox which kept her in "periods of lengthy bed rest".

From BBC

The funniest moment in Jonathan Spector’s comedy “Eureka Day” is the live chat that goes berserk during an elementary school town hall convened to discuss vaccination policy after a mumps outbreak.

From Los Angeles Times

The advisers also removed the government’s recommendation of a combined vaccine for measles, mumps, rubella and varicella, or chickenpox, for children under the age of 4, instead recommending the varicella shot be given separately.

From The Wall Street Journal

Instead, the CDC now recommends two separate shots, one just against chickenpox, and the other that protects against measles, mumps and rubella.

From Los Angeles Times