sleeping sickness
[slee-ping sik-nis]
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.
Also British, sleep·y sick·ness.
Origin of sleeping sickness
First recorded in 1870–75
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for sleeping sickness
Historical Examples of sleeping sickness
The hostess suggests that your friend may have the sleeping-sickness.
Of All ThingsRobert C. Benchley
She was always talking to them about the "sleeping-sickness" and things o' that kind.
The UnknownW.W. Jacobs
Among the well-known human diseases of protozoan origin are malaria, amoebic dysentery, and sleeping-sickness.
sleeping sickness
noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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sleeping sickness
[slē′pĭng]
n.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
sleeping sickness
[slē′pĭng]
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.