sleeping sickness

[ slee-ping sik-nis ]
See synonyms for sleeping sickness on Thesaurus.com
nounPathology.
  1. Also called African sleeping sickness, African trypanosomiasis . a generally fatal disease, common in parts of Africa, characterized by fever, wasting, and progressive lethargy: caused by a parasitic protozoan, Trypanosoma gambiense or T. rhodesiense, that is carried by a tsetse fly, Glossina palpalis.

  2. Also called epidemic encephalitis, lethargic encephalitis . a viral disease affecting the brain, characterized by apathy, sleepiness, extreme muscular weakness, and impairment of vision.

Origin of sleeping sickness

1
First recorded in 1870–75
  • Formerly (British), sleep·y sick·ness .

Words Nearby sleeping sickness

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use sleeping sickness in a sentence

  • It was strange that this man, who never could have closed his eyes again, should have been stricken down by the sleeping sickness.

    With Edged Tools | Henry Seton Merriman
  • Anyway, I am going to cure her of the sleeping sickness, even if I have to invest in a blacksnake whip.

British Dictionary definitions for sleeping sickness

sleeping sickness

noun
  1. Also called: African sleeping sickness an African disease caused by infection with protozoans of the genus Trypanosoma, characterized by fever, wasting, and sluggishness

  2. Also called (esp formerly): sleepy sickness an epidemic viral form of encephalitis characterized by extreme drowsiness: Technical name: encephalitis lethargica

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

Scientific definitions for sleeping sickness

sleeping sickness

[ slēpĭng ]


  1. An often fatal protozoan infection prevalent in tropical Africa, caused by either of two trypanosomes spread by the bite of the tsetse fly and characterized by fever and extreme lethargy.

  2. Encephalitis that is caused by any of various viruses and is characterized by lethargy and extreme muscular weakness.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.