typhoid fever

noun

: a communicable disease marked especially by fever, diarrhea, prostration, headache, and intestinal inflammation and caused by a bacterium (Salmonella typhi)

Examples of typhoid fever in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Robin’s mother, Ly’s first wife, had died of typhoid fever eight months after Robin was born. Cathy Free, Washington Post, 21 Nov. 2023 In these crowded encampments, outbreaks of dysentery, typhoid fever, and smallpox were rampant. Dominique Janee, Scientific American, 2 Nov. 2023 When the wealthy Warren family was hit by typhoid fever at a summer countryside retreat in 1906, there was no obvious explanation. Bessie Yuill, Discover Magazine, 2 July 2020 His grandmother had raised him in Missouri after his mother died of typhoid fever. Jenisha Watts, The Atlantic, 13 Sep. 2023 During the typhoid fever outbreak in the early 1900s, an asymptomatic cook famously infected between roughly 50 and 120 people. Anna Funk, Discover Magazine, 6 Dec. 2020 But the reunion took a tragic turn when his favorite child, 9-year-old Willie, fell sick and died of typhoid fever. Andrew R. Graybill, WSJ, 29 June 2023 But the brothers’ momentum came to an abrupt halt when Wilbur came down with typhoid fever in 1912. Carlyn Kranking, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Oct. 2022 Using genetic evidence gathered from teeth found in an ancient cave site on the island of Crete, the researchers showed the presence of Yersinia pestis and Salmonella enterica, two bacteria that can cause typhoid fever. Sara Novak, Discover Magazine, 11 Oct. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'typhoid fever.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1829, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of typhoid fever was in 1829

Dictionary Entries Near typhoid fever

Cite this Entry

“Typhoid fever.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/typhoid%20fever. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

typhoid fever

noun
: a disease that is caused by a bacterium, is characterized especially by fever, diarrhea, weakness, headache, and an inflamed intestine, and is passed from one person to another in contaminated food or water

Medical Definition

typhoid fever

noun
: a communicable disease marked by fever, diarrhea, prostration, headache, splenomegaly, eruption of rose-colored spots, leukopenia, and intestinal inflammation and caused by a bacterium of the genus Salmonella (S. typhi)

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