sweating sickness

American  

noun

1. a febrile epidemic disease that appeared in the 15th and 16th centuries: characterized by profuse sweating and frequently fatal in a few hours.

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sweating sickness British  

noun

1. the nontechnical name for miliary fever

2. an acute infectious febrile disease that was widespread in Europe during the late 15th century, characterized by profuse sweating

3. a disease of cattle, esp calves, prevalent in southern Africa. Transmitted by ticks, it is characterized by sweating, hair loss, and inflammation of the mouth and eyes

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Etymology

Origin of sweating sickness

First recorded in 1495–1505

Example Sentences

She takes venlafaxine, a type of SNRI, and has common side effects that include sweating, sickness and hot flushes.

From BBC • Aug. 12, 2022

His cause of death is still debated, but it was likely to have been either the dreaded sweating sickness, a mysterious illness that caused multiple epidemics in the 15th and 16th centuries, or possibly consumption.

From Salon • Mar. 14, 2022

It may be set 500 years ago, but so much resonates as Thomas Cromwell battles his own version of coronavirus: sweating sickness.

From The Guardian • Jun. 6, 2020

We also see him as a grief-stricken widower and father, whose wife and young daughters succumbed overnight to sweating sickness.

From Washington Post • Apr. 3, 2015

Sweating Sickness.—Aubrey157 gives a selection of the favorite prescriptions in use against the sweating sickness.

From Three Thousand Years of Mental Healing by Cutten, George Barton