: a mild eruptive disease of the cow that is caused by a poxvirus (Orthopoxvirus cowpox) and that when communicated to humans protects against smallpox
Examples of cowpox in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Convinced by anecdotes of farmworkers who had contracted cowpox and not smallpox, Edward Jenner hypothesized the cowpox protected them.—USA Today, 6 May 2026 Biologists celebrate Edward Jenner’s cowpox vaccination.—Bill Conerly, Forbes.com, 28 Apr. 2026 Jenner inoculated an 8-year-old boy using matter from a cowpox sore on the hand of a milkmaid.—Chris Mueller, Austin American-Statesman, 29 Nov. 2024 Case in point: nearly a century before Albert Nobel died in 1896, Edward Jenner demonstrated that inoculation with cowpox, a relatively mild virus, confers immunity against smallpox.—Arthur L. Kellermann, Forbes, 14 Oct. 2024 See All Example Sentences for cowpox
: a mild eruptive disease of the cow that is caused by a poxvirus (Orthopoxvirus cowpox) and that when communicated to humans protects against smallpox