Definition of dysentery
dysenteries
1 : a disease characterized by severe diarrhea with passage of mucus and blood and usually caused by infection
2 : diarrhea
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Recent Examples of dysentery from the Web
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General Wilson contracted malaria, dysentery and other illnesses.
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More than 60 percent of the country’s 1.3 billion people still defecate in the open, and dysentery kills hundreds of millions of children every year.
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One attendee who was taken to the emergency room during the festival told NYS Music she was given a dysentery diagnosis, which is a broad term for stomach viruses accompanied by bloody stools.
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One attendee who was taken to the emergency room during the festival told NYS Music she was given a dysentery diagnosis, which is a broad term for stomach viruses accompanied by bloody stools.
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After a raid at Cartagena in 1586, Sir Frances Drake sailed toward Havana, when an epidemic of dysentery and scurvy broke out among his crew.
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The lime juice on its own would have significantly prevented scurvy and dysentery.
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He has been wracked by malaria, schistosomiasis and dysentery, lost in Amazonian jungles, stranded in the New Guinea highlands, and held up at gun point during military coups in West Africa and Suriname.
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The possibility of dysentery and trench foot are more agreeable than defending the president’s tweets.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dysentery.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of dysentery
Middle English dissenterie, from Latin dysenteria, from Greek, from dys- + enteron intestine — more at inter-
DYSENTERY Defined for English Language Learners
dysentery
playDefinition of dysentery for English Language Learners
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medical : a serious disease that causes severe diarrhea and a loss of blood
DYSENTERY Defined for Kids
dysentery
playDefinition of dysentery for Students
: a disease marked especially by severe often bloody diarrhea
Medical Dictionary
Learn More about dysentery
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See words that rhyme with dysentery Spanish Central: Translation of dysentery Nglish: Translation of dysentery for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of dysentery for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about dysentery
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