summer complaint

American  

noun

1. an acute condition of diarrhea, occurring during the hot summer months chiefly in infants and children, caused by bacterial contamination of food and associated with poor hygiene.

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Etymology

Origin of summer complaint

An Americanism dating back to 1840–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

summer complaint

These measures may ward off summer complaint and assist in teething.

From Mother's Remedies Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remedies from Mothers of the United States and Canada by Thomas Jefferson Ritter

This is very good for children having summer complaint.

From Mother's Remedies Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remedies from Mothers of the United States and Canada by Thomas Jefferson Ritter

One of the children too has been troubled with the "summer complaint" for a day or two; but he thinks that a dose of catnip, under Providence, will effect a cure.

From Dream Life A Fable Of The Seasons by Donald Grant Mitchell

Heretofore the baby has been expected to cry and to have summer complaint before anybody worried about the treatment it received.

From Civics and Health by William H. Allen

It is often moaned out when the child is ill with "summer complaint" or other intestinal disturbances.

From The Mother and Her Child by William S. Sadler