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EPIDEMIC
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A widespread outbreak of an infectious disease; many people are infected at the same time
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("epidemic" is a kind of...):
eruption; irruption; outbreak (a sudden violent spontaneous occurrence (usually of some undesirable condition))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "epidemic"):
pandemic (an epidemic that is geographically widespread; occurring throughout a region or even throughout the world)
Derivation:
epidemic ((especially of medicine) of disease or anything resembling a disease; attacking or affecting many individuals in a community or a population simultaneously)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
(especially of medicine) of disease or anything resembling a disease; attacking or affecting many individuals in a community or a population simultaneously
Example:
an epidemic outbreak of influenza
Classified under:
Similar:
epiphytotic ((of plants) epidemic among plants of a single kind especially over a wide area)
epizootic ((of animals) epidemic among animals of a single kind within a particular region)
pandemic (epidemic over a wide geographical area)
pestiferous; pestilent; pestilential; plaguey (likely to spread and cause an epidemic disease)
Domain category:
medical specialty; medicine (the branches of medical science that deal with nonsurgical techniques)
Antonym:
ecdemic (of or relating to a disease that originates outside the locality in which it occurs)
endemic (of or relating to a disease (or anything resembling a disease) constantly present to greater or lesser extent in a particular locality)
Derivation:
epidemic (a widespread outbreak of an infectious disease; many people are infected at the same time)
Context examples:
There is a significant increase in the incidence of lymphomas associated with the AIDS epidemic in the last two decades.
(AIDS-Related Lymphoma, NCI Thesaurus)
An acute viral infection of the respiratory tract, occurring in isolated cases, in epidemics, or in pandemics; it is caused by serologically different strains of viruses (influenzaviruses) designated A, B, and C, has a 3-day incubation period, and usually lasts for 3 to 10 days.
(Influenza, NCI Thesaurus)
We believe it will not only contribute to the biochemistry of the functions of the olive component oleuropein, but also have an impact on the general public to pay more attention to olive products in light of the current diabetes epidemic.
(Health Benefits of Olives and Olive Oil, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
Recent Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreaks, including the 2013-2016 epidemic that ravaged West Africa and the 2018 outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, highlight the need for licensed treatments for this often-deadly disease.
(Broadly acting antibodies found in plasma of Ebola survivors, National Institutes of Health)
Once the epidemic was over, the vaccination program was stopped.
(Vaccine for Meningitis Shows Some Protection Against Gonorrhea, VOA)
Preventing new patients from becoming addicted to opioids may have a greater effect on the opioid epidemic than providing sustained treatment to patients already addicted, emergency medical specialist Demetrios Kyriacou wrote in the Journal.
(Study: Common Painkillers as Effective as Opioids in Hospital Emergency Room, VOA)
Decades ago, in the late 1990s, a strain of meningitis B was reaching epidemic proportions in New Zealand.
(Vaccine for Meningitis Shows Some Protection Against Gonorrhea, VOA)
