pinkeye

or pink eye

[ pingk-ahy ]

/ ˈpɪŋkˌaɪ /

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noun Pathology.

a contagious form of acute conjunctivitis occurring in humans and certain animals: so called from the color of the inflamed eye.

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Origin of pinkeye

First recorded in 1785–95; pink¹ + eye

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

How to use pinkeye in a sentence

The only solution that I can suggest is that Pink-eye, or Squint-eye, was a cant term for some species of the weed at the time.
Essays|Arthur Christopher Benson
It appeared that Pink Eye had asked the four to make the driver slow down, or to kill him or something.
Air Men o' War|Boyd Cable
Distemper and Pink Eye are closely related and one is often mistaken for the other.
Pratt's Practical Pointers on the Care of Livestock and Poultry|Pratt Food Co.
The King rolled over and looked at Dorothy with one watery pink eye.
The Emerald City of Oz|L. Frank Baum

"You'll have about as much use for grenades as I have for pink eye," he said almost savagely.
More Tish|Mary Roberts Rinehart

British Dictionary definitions for pinkeye

pinkeye

/ (ˈpɪŋkˌaɪ) /

noun

Also called: acute conjunctivitis an acute contagious inflammation of the conjunctiva of the eye, characterized by redness, discharge, etc: usually caused by bacterial infection

Also called: infectious keratitis a similar condition affecting the cornea of horses and cattle

Word Origin for pinkeye

C16: partial translation of obsolete Dutch pinck oogen small eyes

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