fever
Americannoun
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an abnormal condition of the body, characterized by undue rise in temperature, quickening of the pulse, and disturbance of various body functions.
-
an abnormally high body temperature.
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the number of degrees of such a temperature above the normal.
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any of a group of diseases in which high temperature is a prominent symptom.
scarlet fever.
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intense nervous excitement.
The audience was in a fever of anticipation.
verb (used with object)
noun
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an abnormally high body temperature, accompanied by a fast pulse rate, dry skin, etc
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any of various diseases, such as yellow fever or scarlet fever, characterized by a high temperature
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intense nervous excitement or agitation
she was in a fever about her party
verb
Other Word Forms
- fevered adjective
- feverless adjective
- unfevered adjective
Etymology
Origin of fever
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English fefer, from Latin febr-, stem of febris; reinforced by Anglo-French fevre, Old French fievre, from Latin, as above
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The tool has not escaped the 2020s AI fever, with the developer also planning to integrate a generative tool for 3D objects or for automatically carrying out certain tasks.
From Barron's
"We were young and dumb and had summit fever and really wanted to do that route and we continued anyways," Rebekah, a nurse, says.
From BBC
In small doses, they can cause fever, tiredness and aches, but in large amounts, they can trigger life-threatening conditions like septic shock.
From BBC
There was no protection from common childhood illnesses like tuberculosis, rheumatic fever, diphtheria, or whooping cough.
From Literature
By this time, I had the monkey-catching fever so bad, I didn’t think I’d get any sleep at all that night.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
