sicken

verb sick·en \ ˈsi-kən \

|Updated on: 4 Aug 2018

Examples: sicken in a Sentence

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

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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

Dawn Sturgess, 44, and Charlie Rowley, 45, were sickened on June 30 in a town not far from Salisbury, where British authorities say a Russian ex-spy and his daughter were poisoned with Novichok in March.

— gregory katz, chicagotribune.com, "Bottle containing nerve agent found in home of poisoned man in U.K., police say," 13 July 2018
Dawn Sturgess, 44, and Charlie Rowley, 45, were sickened on June 30 in a town not far from Salisbury, where British authorities say a Russian ex-spy and his daughter were poisoned with Novichok in March.

— Fox News, "UK police confirm source of Novichok poisoning," 13 July 2018
The studies, which tracked outbreaks from 2000 through 2014, found 493 outbreaks where 27,219 people were sickened and eight died from pathogens in recreational water treated with chemicals.

— glenn howatt, ajc, "Swimming pools, hot tubs are more likely than lakes to make you sick, studies find," 9 July 2018
No deaths have been reported, the CDC announced in a news release Friday afternoon, but 32 people have been sickened in Michigan as part of the outbreak that has also stretched into Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Ohio.

— kristen jordan shamus, Detroit Free Press, "Michigan health alert: Throw away pre-cut melon," 8 June 2018
The viral disease Ebola has, as of May 26, killed 25 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo and sickened 31 more.

— adam rogers, WIRED, "The Wild Logistical Ride of the Ebola Vaccine's High-Tech Thermos," 29 May 2018
Malnutrition, cholera and other diseases have killed or sickened thousands of civilians over the years.

— ahmed al-haj, The Seattle Times, "New bout of heavy fighting in Yemen kills dozens," 27 May 2018
Of those who have been sickened, at least 31 people have been hospitalized, including five who developed a type of potentially life-threatening kidney failure known as hemolytic uremic syndrome.

— the washington post, OregonLive.com, "E. coli outbreak warning expands to all romaine lettuce," 20 Apr. 2018
Of those who have been sickened, at least 31 people have been hospitalized, including five who developed a type of potentially life-threatening kidney failure known as hemolytic uremic syndrome.

— lena h. sun, Philly.com, "E. coli outbreak warning expands to all romaine lettuce," 20 Apr. 2018

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.