polio
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of polio
An Americanism dating back to 1930–35; shortened form
Explanation
Polio is a disease that's been eliminated in most parts of the world, thanks to the polio vaccine. This is lucky, since there's no treatment for polio. Before scientists developed a way to prevent polio (which is actually short for poliomyelitis), it was a fairly common childhood illness that spread easily. While many people infected with polio had no symptoms at all, it did cause paralysis in some, and resulted in death for others. The U.S. experienced a polio epidemic in 1952 that left over 20,000 people paralyzed. Jonas Salk is credited with the first effective vaccine against polio, in the mid-1950s.
Vocabulary lists containing polio
"Laws are not the only way to boost immunization”: an editorial from Nature
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“Mandatory Vaccination is Not the Answer to Measles” by Bob Sears
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for August 20–August 26, 2022
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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.
The Philippines has struggled to restore routine childhood immunisation rates after years of plummeting coverage, which contributed to a polio resurgence in 2019 and recurring measles outbreaks.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
Given his walking difficulties from childhood polio, I was advised never to insert myself between him and a wall.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
Earlier, Jobe had grafted a tendon to a recovered polio patient’s ankle to provide stabilization.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
Lynn Roberts, with one leg stunted by childhood polio, finds her time in the pool “life changing, because in the water I can do the things that everyone else does.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
He eventually tracked some down in the lab of William Scherer, who’d used some of the original HeLa sample in their polio research.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
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.
