pox

[poks]

noun

Pathology.

1. a disease characterized by multiple skin pustules, as smallpox.

2. syphilis.

3. Also called soil rot. Plant Pathology.,  a disease of sweet potatoes, characterized by numerous pitlike lesions on the roots, caused by a fungus, Streptomyces ipomoea.

4. (used as an interjection to express distaste, rejection, aversion, etc.).

   A pox on you and your bright ideas!

pox

/ pɒks /

noun

1. any disease characterized by the formation of pustules on the skin that often leave pockmarks when healed

2. an informal name for syphilis

3. archaic,  (interjection) an expression of intense disgust or aversion for someone

Word History and Origins

Origin of pox¹

1540–50 (earlier as surname); spelling variant of pocks, plural of pock

Word History and Origins

Origin of pox¹

C15: changed from pocks, plural of _pock

Example Sentences

“I doubt it is plague. But I hope it is not the chicken pox.”

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Nor was there a get well soon card the time when Penelope had chicken pox and had to spend three days taking warm milk baths to stop the dreadful itching.

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A person could travel to 1950, only to die of the chicken pox.

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

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In such a "pox on both houses" scenario, incumbents from both parties suffer the consequences at the ballot box next year and the public becomes even more dissatisfied with the state of the affairs.

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Related Words

• gonorrhea 
• herpes 
• syphilis