tropical sprue

noun

Definition of tropical sprue

: sprue entry 2 sense 1

Examples of tropical sprue in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web At that time, his fortunes lower than ever, two of his older brothers died of tropical sprue, an acute infectious disease of the small bowel that at the time had no known cause or treatment. — Aaron Gilbreath, Longreads, "We Are Scientists," 5 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tropical sprue.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about tropical sprue

Dictionary Entries near tropical sprue

Statistics for tropical sprue

Cite this Entry

“Tropical sprue.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tropical%20sprue. Accessed 19 Apr. 2021.

Style: MLA

MLA

Chicago

APA

Merriam-Webster Check Mark Icon

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for tropical sprue

tropical sprue

noun

Medical Definition of tropical sprue

: a disease of tropical regions that is of unknown cause and is characterized by fatty diarrhea, malabsorption of nutrients, and weight loss Though pathologically indistinguishable from nontropical sprue (i.e., gluten-sensitive enteropathy, or celiac disease), tropical sprue … does not respond to the removal of gluten from the diet …— Edward T. Ryan et al., The New England Journal of Medicine, 15 Aug. 2002

— called also sprue