trench fever

noun

: a disease that is usually marked by fever and pain in muscles, bones, and joints and that is caused by a bacterium (Bartonella quintana synonym Rochalimaea quintana) transmitted by the human body louse (Pediculus humanus humanus)

Examples of trench fever in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Historical accounts, early DNA studies and remains of body lice found on the soldiers support the idea that typhus and trench fever contributed to the fall of the army. —Andrea Tamayo, Scientific American, 24 Oct. 2025

The most recent study didn’t detect any traces of it or Bartonella quintana, trench fever. —Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 10 Aug. 2025

These diseases are trench fever, epidemic typhus, and louse-borne relapsing fever.54 Summary Body lice are tiny insects that live in bedding and clothes and feed on human blood. —Josephine Hessert, Verywell Health, 2 Dec. 2024

An estimated 380,000 to 520,000 British soldiers contracted trench fever during World War I. —Isis Davis-Marks, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Dec. 2020

Body lice, which feed on your blood and nothing else, spread many diseases, including typhus and trench fever. —Discover Magazine, 7 July 2011

Word History

First Known Use

1915, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for trench fever

• achiever
• believer
• deceiver
• perceiver
• receiver
• reliever
• retriever
• transceiver
• cleaver
• leaver
• weaver
• unbeliever

Medical Definition

trench fever

noun

ˈtrench- 

: a disease that is usually marked by fever and pain in muscles, bones, and joints and that is caused by a bacterium (Bartonella quintana synonym Rochalimaea quintana) transmitted by the human body louse (Pediculus humanus humanus)