diseasenoun
uk/dɪˈziːz/us/dɪˈziːz/B1 [ C or U ] (an) illness of people, animals, plants, etc., caused by infection or a failure of health rather than by an accident:
a contagious/infectious disease
a common/rare/incurable/fatal disease
They reported a sudden outbreak of the disease in the south of the country.
The first symptom of the disease is a very high temperature.
She has caught/contracted (= begun to have) a lung disease/disease of the lungs.
Starvation and disease have killed thousands of refugees.
[ C ] something that is considered very bad in people or society:
The real disease affecting the country is inflation.
More examples
- Chickenpox is a very common disease among children.
- Regular exercise reduces the risk of coronary heart disease.
- There is no known cure for this disease .
- The children were vaccinated against the major childhood diseases.
- The disease is spread by the contamination of food and water by faeces.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Disease & illness - general words
- abnormality
- autoimmune disease
- bilharzia
- bluetongue
- bout
- CFS
- CGD
- complaint
- dose
- dreaded lurgy
- endemic
- life-threatening
- lurgy
- morbidity
- pandemic
- pinkeye
- strangulated
- syndrome
- viral
- wasting disease
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Difficult things and people