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 Body lice, which feed on your blood and nothing else, spread many diseases, including typhus and trench fever. Discover Magazine, 7 July 2011 Infectious diseases ran rampant during World War I, with ailments ranging from influenza to trench fever, meningitis and pneumonia plaguing soldiers stationed on the frontlines. Isis Davis-Marks, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Dec. 2020 An estimated 380,000 to 520,000 British soldiers contracted trench fever during World War I. Isis Davis-Marks, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Dec. 2020 The most recent addition to the author’s oeuvre, The Fall of Gondolin, was published in August 2018 but originally written more than a century earlier, when Tolkien was recovering from trench fever in 1917. Theresa MacHemer, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Jan. 2020 But whereas body lice can spread diseases, including epidemic typhus, trench fever and even the plague, head lice have never been blamed for any such outbreak. Karen Weintraub, Scientific American, 1 June 2017

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'trench fever.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1915, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of trench fever was in 1915

Dictionary Entries Near trench fever

Cite this Entry

“Trench fever.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trench%20fever. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.

Medical Definition

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)

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