Fever
noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Definitions
- 1 A higher than normal body temperature of a person (or, generally, a mammal), usually caused by disease. countable, uncountable
"There has been a rise in my fever. I think I've the flu."
- 2 a state of nervous excitement wordnet
- 3 Any of various diseases. countable, in-compounds, uncountable, usually
"scarlet fever"
- 4 a rise in the temperature of the body; frequently a symptom of infection wordnet
- 5 A state of excitement or anxiety. countable, uncountable
"an envious fever"
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- 6 A group of stingrays. countable, neologism, uncountable
"On the way back to the mainland the boat passed over a fever of stingrays, and the sight of them through the glass was enough to colour everything else, and outstrip it."
- 7 Sexual attraction towards a specific group of people. countable, derogatory, in-compounds, often, slang, uncountable
"Asian fever"
- 1 To put into a fever; to affect with fever.
"a fevered lip"
- 2 To become fevered.
Example
More examples"You have a little fever today, don't you?"
Etymology
From Middle English fever, fevere, from Old English fefer, fefor (“fever”) and Old French fievre (“fever”), from Latin febris (“a fever”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ- (“to burn”). Replaced native Old English hriþ (“fever”). Compare also Saterland Frisian Fiewer, German Fieber, Danish feber, Swedish feber.
Related phrases
More for "fever"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.