tonsillitis

noun

ton·​sil·​li·​tis ˌtän(t)-sə-ˈlī-təs 

: inflammation of the tonsils

Examples of tonsillitis in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The 32-year-old star said the health scare started when she was diagnosed with tonsillitis while on holiday in December. —Marlene Lenthang, NBC News, 19 Jan. 2024

The state-of-the-art facility treats a variety of conditions like tonsillitis, removal of adenoids, hand injuries, minor plastic surgery and ophthalmology, and will enable Evelina London to accommodate an additional 2,300 children per year. —Janine Henni, Peoplemag, 6 Dec. 2023

Penicillin is available by prescription and can treat gram-positive bacteria that cause illnesses such as strep throat, tetanus, and tonsillitis. —Jenny Sweigard, Verywell Health, 16 Nov. 2023

Around 13% of the people in the study had been diagnosed with Covid at least four weeks before, and another 4.6% had been diagnosed with non-Covid acute respiratory infections, such as influenza, common cold, bronchitis, tonsillitis, pharyngitis and ear infection. —Linda Carroll, NBC News, 6 Oct. 2023

When this happens, a person is said to have tonsillitis. —Pao Vang, M.d., Chicago Tribune, 5 May 2023

Children are more prone to tonsillitis than adults for a few reasons. —Pao Vang, M.d., Chicago Tribune, 5 May 2023

Grint also recounted suffering from tonsillitis for several years after filming 2005's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (the fourth film in the franchise). —Glenn Garner, Peoplemag, 30 Jan. 2023

Shejust had her fourth child and came down with a chronic case of tonsillitis after one of her older children came home with strep throat. —Gretchen Cuda Kroen, cleveland, 17 Jan. 2023

Word History

Etymology

New Latin

First Known Use

1801, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

tonsillitis

noun

ton·​sil·​li·​tis ˌtän(t)-sə-ˈlīt-əs 

: inflammation of the tonsils

Medical Definition

tonsillitis

noun

ton·​sil·​li·​tis ˌtän(t)-sə-ˈlīt-əs 

: inflammation of the tonsils and especially the palatine tonsils typically due to viral or bacterial infection and marked by red enlarged tonsils usually with sore throat, fever, difficult swallowing, hoarseness or loss of voice, and tender or swollen lymph nodes