dysentery Hear it!

dysentery Definition

dys·en·tery (disən ter′ē)

noun

any of various intestinal inflammations characterized by abdominal pain and frequent and intense diarrhea with bloody, mucous feces

Etymology: ME dissenterie < OFr < L dysenteria < Gr < dys-, dys- + enteron, pl. entera, bowels: see inter-

dysentery Related Forms

dys′·en·teric adjective

dysentery Synonyms

dysentery

n.

diarrhea, looseness, diarrheal infection, amebic dysentery, shigellosis, giardiasis, flux, Montezuma's revenge*, Aztec two-step*, turista*, the trots*, the runs*, Delhi belly*, collywobbles*, African drizzles*, GI's*; see also disease.

dysentery Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • contract: Many fell ill on the march, including Venables himself who contracted dysentery.
  • cause: The pathogens include bacteria which cause dysentery, viruses responsible for polio and hepatitis, and many others.
  • get: I has been traveling in the Middle East and India in the spring of 1965 and got dysentery.
  • have: Men relieved themselves where they were, many had dysentery.
  • include: Diseases related to poor sanitation include dysentery, hepatitis, bilharzia, guinea worm, hook worm and tape worm.
  • catch: With the difficulty of keeping clean, it was inevitable that so many would catch dysentery.

Adjective modifier

  • amoebic: John Roger Stuart Moss died of amoebic dysentery on 20th June 1943.
  • bacillary: The complete absence of latrines was responsible for the ground being fouled and for the outbreak of bacillary dysentery.
  • bacterial: In one study, andrographis was given to 1,611 people with bacterial dysentery and 955 people with diarrhea.
  • amebic: Amebic dysentery is caused by the protozoan parasite Entamoeba histolytica.

Modifies a noun

  • bacterium: The dysentery bacteria must be swallowed to cause disease.
  • case: Owing to the small hospital accommodation many dysentery cases had to sleep with the men.
  • wing: We had in addition a dysentery wing holding 50.
  • patient: Number Nineteen was known as the Death Hut, devoted to dysentery patients and to the dying.
  • ward: I was then posted to BMH Fayid where I was an orderly and worked on the dysentery ward.
  • sufferer: The dysentery sufferers were taken off the ship and returned to the Woodlands Camp.

Noun used with modifier

  • swine: Swine dysentery can survive in mice for 180 days. Men off sick?
  • lamb: The inoculation was probably for braxy, louping-ill or lamb dysentery.

Browse dictionary entries near dysentery

  1. dyscrasia
  2. dys-
  3. dynorphin
  4. dynode
  5. dynel
  6. dyne
  7. dynatron
  8. dynasty
  9. dynast
  10. dynamotor
  1. dysfunction
  2. dysfunctional
  3. dysgenic
  4. dysgenics
  5. dysgraphia
  6. dyskinesia
  7. dyslexia
  8. dyslogistic
  9. dysmenorrhea
  10. Dyson, FreemanJ