phthisis
Americannoun
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a wasting away.
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pulmonary tuberculosis; consumption.
noun
Etymology
Origin of phthisis
1515–25; < Greek phthísis lung disease, literally, a wasting away, equivalent to phthí ( ein ) to decay + -sis -sis
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.
Wall Streeters parochially felt that the Administration's encouraging words were calculated to alleviate the stock market's phthisis.
From Time Magazine Archive
Continued diarrhoea, phthisis pulmonalis, mesenteric disease, cancer, and aneurism of the aorta are among the most frequent causes of great emaciation.
From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various
In the advanced stage of phthisis it procured a respite beyond his expectation.
From New, Old, and Forgotten Remedies: Papers by Many Writers by Edward Pollock Anshutz
A toothache produces more violent convulsions of pain than a phthisis or a dropsy.
From History of European Morals From Augustus to Charlemagne (Vol. 1 of 2) by William Edward Hartpole Lecky
Valuable illustrations of the relation between damp houses and consumption were obtained by constructing maps of certain wards, on which every death from phthisis for several years was noted opposite each house.
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.
