sleeping sickness
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.
Origin of sleeping sickness
1- 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
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 | NautilusThey 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"sleeping sickness" is a late stage when the organisms have invaded the cerebrospinal fluid.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell ToddWhile in Nairobi we visited the little station where experiments are being made in the "sleeping sickness."
In Africa | John T. McCutcheonThese districts have been known for a number of years, long before the sleeping sickness became known.
In Africa | John T. McCutcheon
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 MerrimanAnyway, I am going to cure her of the sleeping sickness, even if I have to invest in a blacksnake whip.
The Red Cow and Her Friends | Peter McArthur
British Dictionary definitions for sleeping sickness
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 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
[ 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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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