sleeping sickness

[ slee-ping sik-nis ]

/ ˈsli pɪŋ ˌsɪk nɪs /

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noun Pathology.

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.

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

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Formerly (British), sleep·y sick·ness .

Origin of sleeping sickness

First recorded in 1870–75

Words nearby sleeping sickness

sleeping draught, sleeping partner, sleeping pill, sleeping policeman, sleeping porch, sleeping sickness, sleep learning, sleepless, sleep like a log, sleep movement, sleep off

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use sleeping sickness in a sentence

The sleeping sickness came along as a sort of sophisticated solution to a problem.
The Neurologist Who Diagnoses Psychosomatics - Issue 107: The Edge|Steve Paulson|September 22, 2021|Nautilus
They hadn’t chosen to leave the town, but the sleeping sickness had made the decision for them.
The Neurologist Who Diagnoses Psychosomatics - Issue 107: The Edge|Steve Paulson|September 22, 2021|Nautilus
The sickness in her mind was a reflection of the sickness of her life, a sickness created by her family and her society.
Cover-Ups and Concern Trolls: Actually, It's About Ethics in Suicide Journalism|Arthur Chu|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
You already protect you, and look after you in sickness and in health.
Why Singles Should Say ‘I Don’t’ to The Self-Marriage Movement|Tim Teeman|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST

I knew there would be good times and bad, sickness and health, broken dishwashers and giant cockroaches in the bathroom.
You’re Never ‘Cured’ of an Eating Disorder|Carrie Arnold|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I was told before my first trip that no city in the world offered the dreams you could have sleeping in Havana.
The Life and Hard Times Of The Family A Cuban Defector Left Behind|Brin-Jonathan Butler|December 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Amy Pascal Manifesto: Aaron Sorkin Broke, Sleeping with Co-Worker?
Shocking New Reveals From Sony Hack: J. Law, Pitt, Clooney, and Star Wars|William Boot|December 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The reveillée of the sleeping Mexicans was the discharge of our two field-pieces loaded with canister.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
In truth, it was so intently engaged with a sleeping seal that it had not observed the approach of the sledge.
The Giant of the North|R.M. Ballantyne
There was a deep silence throughout the whole bivouac; some were sleeping, and those who watched were in no humour for idle chat.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
I have fed and slept at inns, living on the worst of fares and sleeping on the hardest, and hardly the cleanest, of beds.
St. Martin's Summer|Rafael Sabatini
Some of them, more imaginative, declared that Mrs. Charmington was even a sleeping partner in the saponaceous firm.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills

British Dictionary definitions for sleeping sickness

sleeping sickness

noun

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

Also called (esp formerly): sleepy sickness an epidemic viral form of encephalitis characterized by extreme drowsinessTechnical 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

[ slē′pĭng ]

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.

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

sleeping sickness

Origin of sleeping sickness

Words nearby sleeping sickness

Words related to sleeping sickness

How to use sleeping sickness in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for sleeping sickness

Scientific definitions for sleeping sickness