stomach bug

noun

variants or less commonly stomach flu

plural stomach bugs also stomach flus

: a nonspecific usually contagious gastrointestinal illness that is marked by nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and cramping : gastroenteritis usually caused by a virus (such as a norovirus or rotavirus)

… suffering from a stomach bug and shin splints …

—Sally Jenkins

… middle-of-the-night emergencies: pesky high fevers, dehydration, stomach flus.

—Michael L. Diamond

—not used technically

Word History

First Known Use

1920, in the meaning defined above