fever

1 of 2

noun

fe·​ver ˈfē-vər How to pronounce fever (audio)
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 How to pronounce fever (audio)
ˈfē-vriŋ

transitive verb

: to throw into a fever : agitate

intransitive verb

: to contract or be in a fever : become feverish

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
Initial symptoms include eye and nasal discharge, fever and loss of appetite. Olivia Munson, USA TODAY, 28 Sep. 2024 The majority of people do not show symptoms, and the quarter who do can mistake their fatigue, fever or headache for a cold or the flu. Saima S. Iqbal, Scientific American, 26 Sep. 2024
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 See all Example Sentences for fever 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word '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

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of fever was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near fever

Cite this Entry

“Fever.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fever. Accessed 10 Oct. 2024.

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 How to pronounce fever (audio)
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 How to pronounce fever (audio)

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

More from Merriam-Webster on fever

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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