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.
McVey worries that memories of polio are too far removed to remember how serious it can be.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
"Martha woke up and she couldn't lift her head off the pillow, she said she knew right away that she had polio, because she heard so much about it," McVey said.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
In the 1930s and ’40s, Eleanor Roosevelt famously became Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “eyes, ears and legs” because he was limited by polio, said Barbara A. Perry, a professor of governance at the University of Virginia.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
The affected data include childhood immunization rates against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, measles, mumps and rubella, hepatitis, chicken pox and flu; and rates for 13 year olds and expectant mothers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
She brought me to one of the three young boys I’d seen earlier, the one who’d had polio.
From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer
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.
