trench mouth

American  

noun

1. Vincent's angina.

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trench mouth British  

noun

1. a bacterial ulcerative disease characterized by inflammation of the tonsils, gums, etc

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Etymology

Origin of trench mouth

First recorded in 1915–20; so called from its high incidence among soldiers in the trenches

Example Sentences

No laughing matter, trench mouth is a painful, sometimes fatal disease, spread by relatives of the syphilis spirochete, which first invade the gums, may later migrate to tonsils, salivary glands and lungs.

From Time Magazine Archive

Drs. C. Rex Fuller and John Charles Cottrell of Salida, Colo, were obliged to amputate an Italian miner's left index finger after another man with trench mouth had bitten the finger.

From Time Magazine Archive

The disease is called variously Vincent's angina, trench mouth, ulcerated stomatitis, necrotic gingivitis.

From Time Magazine Archive

To kill the trench mouth spirochete, doctors usually swab their patients' swollen gums with hydrogen peroxide, silver salts or arsphenamine, prescribe mouthwashes of sodium perborate.

From Time Magazine Archive

And I said, patting your hand, ‘What, do I give you trench mouth?’

From "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury