SARS

noun

ˈsärz 

: a severe respiratory illness that is caused by a coronavirus (species Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related virus of the genus Betacoronavirus), is transmitted especially by contact with infectious material (such as respiratory droplets or body fluids), and is characterized by fever, headache, body aches, a dry cough, hypoxia, and usually pneumonia

called also severe acute respiratory syndrome

see sars-cov

Examples of SARS in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Many of the disease scares of recent decades—SARS, MERS, Ebola, Zika—in large part spared the U.S. —Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 7 Mar. 2025

Investment banker Andriy Sirko, founding partner of SARS Capital, paints a troubling picture of the alternative to Western investment in Ukrainian weapons production. —Tamar Jacoby, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2025

Around the same time, the U.S. government announced a pause on funding for new gain-of-function research projects involving influenza, SARS, and MERS viruses. —Kristen Waggoner, Newsweek, 21 Jan. 2025

This transmission pathway is well-documented and was likely responsible for the first SARS epidemic. —Dan Perry, Newsweek, 3 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

severe acute respiratory syndrome

First Known Use

2003, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing SARS

• SARS-CoV-2

Rhymes for SARS

• ares
• bars
• cars
• chars
• czars
• gars
• jars
• lars
• mars
• pars
• scars
• spars

Kids Definition

SARS

noun

ˈsärz

: a severe respiratory illness that is caused by a coronavirus, is transmitted especially by contact with infectious material (as respiratory droplets or body fluids), and is characterized by fever, headache, body aches, a dry cough, shortness of breath, and usually pneumonia

Etymology

severe acute respiratory syndrome

Medical Definition

SARS

noun

ˈsärz 

: a severe respiratory illness that is transmitted especially by contact with infectious material (as respiratory droplets or body fluids), is caused by a coronavirus (species Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus of the genus Betacoronavirus), and is characterized by fever, headache, body aches, a dry cough, hypoxia, and usually pneumonia

called also severe acute respiratory syndrome

see sars-cov