Cholera

//ˈkɒləɹə// noun

noun ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any of several acute infectious diseases of humans and domestic animals, caused by certain strains of the Vibrio cholerae bacterium through ingestion of contaminated water or food, usually marked by severe gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, and dehydration. countable, uncountable

    "'This again,' said the Bacteriologist, slipping a glass slide under the microscope, 'is a preparation of the celebrated Bacillus of cholera - the cholera germ.'"

  2. 2
    an acute intestinal infection caused by ingestion of contaminated water or food wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
acute articular rheumatismafrican lethargyaguealkali diseaseamebiasisamebic dysentery

Example

More examples

"There has been another case of cholera in the neighborhood."

Etymology

From Latin cholera (“bilious disease”), from Ancient Greek χολέρα (kholéra, “cholera”). Doublet of choler.

Related phrases

Asiatic choleraBritish choleraEnglish choleraIndian cholerachicken choleracholera horncholera infantumcholera morbusepidemic cholerafowl cholerahog choleravibrio cholerae

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.