Yaws
//ˈjɔːz// name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A contagious tropical disease, caused by the spirochete Treponema pertenue, characterized by yellowish or reddish tumors, which often resemble berries. uncountable
"Other threats came from organisms co-evolving with humans, including tapeworms and such spirochaetes as Treponema, the agent of syphilis, and the similar skin infection, yaws."
- 2 plural of yaw form-of, plural
- 3 an infectious tropical disease resembling syphilis in its early stages; marked by red skin eruptions and ulcerating lesions wordnet
Verb
- 1 third-person singular simple present indicative of yaw form-of, indicative, present, singular, third-person
Proper Noun
- 1 plural of Yaw form-of, plural
Example
More examples"Other threats came from organisms co-evolving with humans, including tapeworms and such spirochaetes as Treponema, the agent of syphilis, and the similar skin infection, yaws."
Etymology
Etymology 1
Uncertain. Attested since the 1670s, perhaps from an English creole (or other language) of the Caribbean.
Etymology 2
Inflected forms.
Related phrases
More for "yaws"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.