/ English Dictionary |
ILLNESS
Pronunciation (US): | (GB): |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Impairment of normal physiological function affecting part or all of an organism
Synonyms:
illness; malady; sickness; unwellness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("illness" is a kind of...):
health problem; ill health; unhealthiness (a state in which you are unable to function normally and without pain)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "illness"):
condition (an illness, disease, or other medical problem)
ague (a fit of shivering or shaking)
amyloidosis (a disorder characterized by deposit of amyloid in organs or tissues; often secondary to chronic rheumatoid arthritis or tuberculosis or multiple myeloma)
anuresis; anuria (inability to urinate)
catastrophic illness (severe illness requiring prolonged hospitalization or recovery; usually involves high costs for hospitals and doctors and medicines)
collapse; prostration (an abrupt failure of function or complete physical exhaustion)
aeroembolism; air embolism; bends; caisson disease; decompression sickness; gas embolism (pain resulting from rapid change in pressure)
food poisoning; gastrointestinal disorder (illness caused by poisonous or contaminated food)
lead poisoning; plumbism; saturnism (toxic condition produced by the absorption of excessive lead into the system)
disease (an impairment of health or a condition of abnormal functioning)
hypermotility (excessive movement; especially excessive motility of the gastrointestinal tract)
indisposition (a slight illness)
ozone sickness (illness that can occur to persons exposed to ozone in high-altitude aircraft; characterized by sleepiness and headache and chest pains and itchiness)
toxaemia; toxaemia of pregnancy; toxemia; toxemia of pregnancy (an abnormal condition of pregnancy characterized by hypertension and edema and protein in the urine)
growth ((pathology) an abnormal proliferation of tissue (as in a tumor))
Antonym:
wellness (a healthy state of wellbeing free from disease)
Derivation:
ill (affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function)
Context examples:
Yet there is often no understanding of the reaction between the minerals and the human body or agents that cause illness.
(New answer to MRSA, other 'superbug' infections: clay minerals?, NSF)
Mice with restricted diets had more robust memory T cell responses and were better protected from illness.
(Memory T cells shelter in bone marrow, boosting immunity in mice with restricted diets, National Institutes of Health)
Scientists determined the structure of the intact NMDA receptor, an ion channel involved in many brain-related illnesses including Alzheimer’s disease, depression, schizophrenia, and autism.
(Structure of receptor involved in brain disorders, NIH)
Delaying diagnosis and treatment could put patients at a greater risk of serious illness or death.
(High Blood Pressure Liked to Long Hours on Job, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
The mosquito-borne illness killed over 400,000 in 2015, according the most recent statistics from the World Health Organization.
(The Dog's Nose Knows Malaria, Kevin Enochs/VOA)
But at last there came a terrible blow in the shape of dangerous illness to his wife.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
At the moment, however, I was too much concerned at the sudden illness of my host to think of anything else.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Hers had been cut off, very possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of course, yours had to be sacrificed also.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I was glad to see her paleness and her illness, for my mind was full of the fresh horror of that ruddy vampire sleep.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
In animal studies, two of these antibodies provided substantial protection against disease caused by Zaire ebolavirus, Bundibugyo ebolavirus and Sudan ebolavirus, the three species known to cause fatal human illness.
(Broadly acting antibodies found in plasma of Ebola survivors, National Institutes of Health)