swamp fever
Americannoun
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Also called infectious anemia of horses. an equine viral disease characterized by weakness and recurring fever, transmitted by contaminated food and water.
noun
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Also called: equine infectious anaemia. a viral disease of horses characterized by recurring fever, staggering gait, and general debility
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another name for malaria
Etymology
Origin of swamp fever
An Americanism dating back to 1840–50
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.
I loved the series a lot in the moment—it’s high on my best-episodes-of-2014 list, about which more later—but looking back on the season, as a whole, it feels like a swamp fever that’s passed.
From Slate ● Dec. 22, 2014
Better known as swamp fever, EIA is a viral infection related to the human HIV virus, and for which there is no cure or vaccine.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 1, 2012
The novel opens in 323 B.C. with Alexander, 33, dying of swamp fever in a Babylonian palace.
From Time Magazine Archive
Largely because Virginia Mayo spends a good part of her time wasting away with swamp fever, the love affair seldom becomes sticky enough to slow up the action.
From Time Magazine Archive
I should not wonder if I were in for a touch of swamp fever.’
From Hopes and Fears or, scenes from the life of a spinster by Yonge, Charlotte Mary
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
