sicken

play

verb sick·en \ˈsi-kən\

Definition of sicken

sickened

;

sickening

play \ˈsi-kə-niŋ, ˈsik-niŋ\

intransitive verb
1 : to become sick
2 : to become weary or satiated
transitive verb
1 : to make sick
2 : to cause revulsion in their prejudice sickens me

sickener

play \ˈsi-kə-nər, ˈsik-nər\ noun

See sicken defined for English-language learners

See sicken defined for kids

Examples of sicken in a Sentence

Many people sickened and died on the long voyage.
The bacteria in the drinking water sickened the whole village.
We were sickened by the reports of violence.

Recent Examples of sicken from the Web

Even just a small amount of powdered fentanyl can sicken police officers who come in contact with it during an arrest.

— CBS News, "New drug kits save police dogs from opioid overdoses", 1 June 2017
WDAY-TV (http://bit.ly/2rj9CLJ ) reports the 9-year-old girl was sickened in the pool area Monday at the La Quinta Inn and Suites.

— the associated press, The Seattle Times, "Defective boiler may have sickened 11 at Fargo hotel", 30 May 2017
Officials say the drug that sickened him, carfentanil, is being used by dealers to help stretch their heroin supplies.

— Washington Post, "In opioid crisis, a new risk for police: accidental overdose", 27 May 2017
A botulism outbreak has killed one man and sickened nine other people who ate nacho cheese sauce contaminated with the toxic bacterial protein.

— laura geggel senior writer, Fox News, "Tainted nacho cheese: Why botulism is so deadly", 26 May 2017
A 2015 E. coli outbreak sickened 60 people in 14 states, including 13 people in Oregon and 27 people in Washington, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.

— the oregonian/oregonlive, OregonLive.com, "Aeromexico launches Portland to Mexico City service", 25 May 2017
The United Kingdom’s Vegetarian Society called the practice sickening and demanded it be stopped.

— wired staff, WIRED, "Bone Water", 22 Aug. 1997

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sicken'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

13th Century

First Known Use of sicken

13th century

SICKEN Defined for English Language Learners

sicken

play

verb

Definition of sicken for English Language Learners

: to become sick or to cause (someone) to become sick
: to cause (someone) to feel disgusted or angry

SICKEN Defined for Kids

sicken

play

verb sick·en \ˈsi-kən\

Definition of sicken for Students

sickened

;

sickening

1 : to make or become sick or ill Many of the colonists sickened on the long voyage.
2 : to cause to feel disgusted or angry We were sickened by his cruelty.