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Hydrophobia
Definitions
- 1 An aversion to water, as a symptom of rabies; the disease of rabies itself. countable, uncountable
"[…] Cato, who ſcorned both death and fortune, could not abide the ſight of a looking glaſſe or of water; overcome with horrour, and quelled with amazement, if by the contagion of a mad dog he had falne into that ſickneſſe which Phiſitians call Hydroforbia, or feare of waters."
- 2 an acute viral disease of the nervous system of warm-blooded animals (usually transmitted by the bite of a rabid animal); rabies is fatal if the virus reaches the brain wordnet
- 3 A morbid fear of water; aquaphobia. colloquial, countable, uncountable
"[page 39] HydroPhobias begin on land long before casting off. But once at sea, fear is quickly lost in the joys and pleasures of the passage. […] [page 40] There are three HydroPhobias. The Big Three. Two of the Big Three are fears that prevent landlubbers from becoming sailors. The third is primal and common to all mankind. The Big Three are 1) Fear of Flatland, 2) Fear of Being with Self, and 3) The Fear of Bogeymen."
- 4 a morbid fear of water wordnet
- 5 A lack of affinity for water; the quality of being hydrophobic countable, uncountable
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- 6 a symptom of rabies in humans consisting of an aversion to swallowing liquids wordnet
Etymology
From Middle English idroforbia (“hydrophobia”), from Latin hydrophobia, from Ancient Greek ὑδροφοβία (hudrophobía), from ὑδρο- (hudro-), combining form of ῠ̔́δωρ (hŭ́dōr, “water”), + φοβία (phobía, “phobia”). The word is analysable as hydro- + -phobia.
See also for "hydrophobia"
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Unscramble this word: hydrophobia