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  • rest cure
    rest cure
    noun
    a treatment for nervous disorders, consisting of a complete rest, usually combined with systematic diet, massage, etc., especially at a spa or sanitorium.
  • rest-cure
    rest-cure
    noun
    a rest taken as part of a course of medical treatment, as for stress, anxiety, etc

rest cure

American  

noun

  1. a treatment for nervous disorders, consisting of a complete rest, usually combined with systematic diet, massage, etc., especially at a spa or sanitorium.


rest-cure British  

noun

  1. a rest taken as part of a course of medical treatment, as for stress, anxiety, etc

  2. an easy undemanding time or assignment: usually used with a negative

    it's no rest-cure, I can assure you

"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

Etymology

Origin of rest cure

First recorded in 1885–90


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.

See Examples For:

There were lots and lots of problems with this approach to the rest cure.

From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2023

Indeed Sir Henry Tudor, who had been 'chief of police' in Ireland before taking a senior position in the Palestine mandate, said it was "a rest cure after Ireland" for the former RIC men.

From BBC ● Jan. 23, 2022

And Silas Weir Mitchell’s rest cure was another fruitful area, where women who were exhibiting anxiety were basically put to bed for days and forbidden to get up except for bodily functions.

From New York Times ● Dec. 2, 2018

“You will get tired, and your bones will cry aloud for a rest cure; but I promise you one thing — you will never be bored,” Massey wrote.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 16, 2015

Plainly, a way had to be found to enforce a rest cure.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

But even a rest-cure isn't likely to restore Boracay to its former preeminence, he says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 14, 2013

Madame Chiang Kaishek, who arrived in Brazil in July for a three-month "rest-cure," prepared to travel on to the U.S. for "badly needed" medical treatment.

From Time Magazine Archive

U.S. observers were worried by his silence, his brooding on his yacht, his long rest-cure treatment at the health resort of Baguio in the hills.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Scotsman talks of her soul; he signs another man's name on his own examination paper in order to get money to provide her with a rest-cure in Spain.

From Time Magazine Archive

In 1894 he consulted the late Dr. Eccles, and by means of the rest-cure, then something of a novelty, his weight increased from 9 stone to 9 stone 11 pounds. 

From Rustic Sounds and Other Studies in Literature and Natural History by Sir Francis Darwin

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