dysentery

noun

dys·​en·​tery ˈdi-sᵊn-ˌter-ē 

-ˌte-rē

plural dysenteries

1

: a disease characterized by severe diarrhea with passage of mucus and blood and usually caused by infection

2

: diarrhea

Examples of dysentery in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Many of the bathrooms were non-functioning, and the chamber pots were late in arriving—just as an attack of dysentery hit the camp. —Jake Whitney, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 Nov. 2024

Hepatitis and dysentery afflicted people already stricken with grief. —Dorothy Wickenden, The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2024

Meyer made a business of insuring people’s lives then poisoning his victims, which caused their illnesses and subsequent deaths to appear to be due to dysentery. —Marianne Mather, Chicago Tribune, 24 Oct. 2024

Malaria, dengue fever, dysentery, and in a few cases typhus, hit man after man. —Salama Udaipurwala, JSTOR Daily, 30 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English dissenterie, borrowed from Latin dysenteria (Medieval Latin desintiria, dissenteria), borrowed from Greek dysentería, from dys- dys- + éntera (neuter plural) "intestines" + -ia -ia entry 1 — more at inter-

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing dysentery

• amebic dysentery

Kids Definition

dysentery

noun

dys·​en·​tery ˈdis-ən-ˌter-ē 

1

: a disease characterized by severe diarrhea with passage of mucus and blood from the bowels

2

: diarrhea

Medical Definition

dysentery

noun

dys·​en·​tery ˈdis-ᵊn-ˌter-ē 

plural dysenteries

1

: a disease characterized by severe diarrhea with passage of mucus and blood and usually caused by infection

2

: diarrhea