fever

1 of 2

noun

fe·​ver ˈfē-vər 

1

a

: a rise of body temperature above the normal

b

: any of various diseases of which fever is a prominent symptom

2

a

: a state of heightened or intense emotion or activity

b

: a contagious usually transient enthusiasm : craze

fever

2 of 2

verb

fevered; fevering ˈfe-vər-iŋ 

ˈfē-vriŋ

transitive verb

: to throw into a fever : agitate

intransitive verb

: to contract or be in a fever : become feverish

Synonyms

Noun

• disease
• illness
• ailment
• ill
• sickness

Examples of fever in a Sentence

Noun

The symptoms of the disease include headache and fever.

We waited in a fever of anticipation.

He had us all in a fever with worry.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Symptoms vary among people, but can include fever, flu-like symptoms, headache, stiff neck, confusion, and loss of balance. —Jasmine Laws, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 June 2025

The foodborne illness is reported to result in high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. —Moná Thomas, People.com, 23 June 2025

Verb

Visits to fever clinics fell 96.2%, from a peak of 2.867 million on Dec. 22 to 110,000 on Jan. 23. —Reuters, NBC News, 26 Jan. 2023

Despite ongoing health reforms, access to everything from ventilators to fever medicine remains scant for the 500 million people who live in the countryside. —Olivia Wang, New York Times, 6 Jan. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Old English fēfer, from Latin febris

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1606, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Phrases Containing fever

• African swine fever
• baby fever
• blackwater fever
• breakbone fever
• buck fever
• cabin fever
• childbed fever
• Ebola fever
• enteric fever
• fever blister
• fever pitch
• fever tree
• glandular fever
• hay fever
• hemorrhagic fever
• Lassa fever
• milk fever
• parrot fever
• phlebotomus fever
• puerperal fever
• Q fever
• rabbit fever
• rat-bite fever
• relapsing fever
• rheumatic fever
• Rift Valley fever
• Rocky Mountain spotted fever
• rose fever
• run a fever
• sandfly fever
• San Joaquin fever
• San Joaquin valley fever
• scarlet fever
• snail fever
• spotted fever
• spring fever
• swine fever
• Texas fever
• tick fever
• trench fever
• typhoid fever
• undulant fever
• valley fever
• West Nile fever
• yellow fever
• yellow-fever mosquito
• Zika fever

Rhymes for fever

• cleaver
• leaver
• weaver
• achiever
• believer
• deceiver
• perceiver
• receiver
• reliever
• retriever
• transceiver
• unbeliever

Kids Definition

fever

noun

fe·​ver

ˈfē-vər

1

a

: a rise of body temperature above the normal

b

: a disease of which fever is an important symptom

2

: a state of excited emotion or activity

Medical Definition

fever

1 of 2 noun

fe·​ver ˈfē-vər 

1

: a rise of body temperature above the normal whether a natural response (as to infection) or artificially induced for therapeutic reasons

2

: an abnormal bodily state characterized by increased production of heat, accelerated heart action and pulse, and systemic debility with weakness, loss of appetite, and thirst

3

: any of various diseases of which fever is a prominent symptom

fever

2 of 2 verb

fevered; fevering ˈfēv-(ə-)riŋ 

transitive verb

: to affect with fever

the malarial plasmodia fevered him

intransitive verb

: to contract or be in a fever : be or become feverish

the malaria victim fevered intermittently