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View synonyms for bulimia

bulimia

[ byoo-lim-ee-uh, -lee-mee-uh, boo-, buh- ]

noun

  1. Also called binge-purge syn·drome [binj, -, purj, sin-drohm], Psychiatry. a habitual disturbance in eating behavior mostly affecting young women of normal weight, characterized by frequent episodes of grossly excessive food intake followed by self-induced vomiting to avert weight gain. Compare anorexia nervosa.
  2. Also called hyperphagia. Pathology. abnormally voracious appetite or unnaturally constant hunger.


bulimia

/ bjuːˈlɪmɪə /

noun

  1. pathologically insatiable hunger, esp when caused by a brain lesion
  2. Also calledbulimia nervosa a disorder characterized by compulsive overeating followed by vomiting: sometimes associated with anxiety about gaining weight


bulimia

/ bo̅o̅-lēmē-ə /

  1. An eating disorder characterized by uncontrolled rapid ingestion of large quantities of food over a short period of time, followed by self-induced vomiting, fasting, and other measures to prevent weight gain. It is most common among young women and teenage girls.


bulimia

  1. An eating disorder that is characterized by episodic binge eating followed by feelings of guilt or depression and sometimes self-induced vomiting.


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Derived Forms

  • buˈlimic, nounadjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of bulimia1

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from New Latin, from Greek boulīmía “extreme hunger,” equivalent to bou- intensive prefix (derivative of bou-, stem of boûs ox ) + līm(ós) “hunger” + -ia -ia

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Word History and Origins

Origin of bulimia1

C17: from New Latin, from Greek boulimia , from bous ox + limos hunger

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Example Sentences

Binge eating and purging does the same for someone with bulimia.

Others shared stories of friends who suffered from bulimia in an open secret.

Other risk factors include a history of sexual abuse and bulimia, both of which also affect more women than men.

She struggled with bulimia and, when she was anxious, would eat excessively.

Bruni candidly writes of his weight struggles, which included bulimia, laxative abuse, and junk-food binges.

It is a species of bulimia—an insatiable appetite, which "grows by what it feeds on."

From hence they marched through snow the whole of the following day, and many of the men contracted the bulimia.

In adults there is sometimes bulimia and a marked capriciousness of the appetite.

The patient may develop an enormous appetite—what we call bulimia—eating several times as much as she does ordinarily.

Hence they marched through snow the whole of the following day, and many of the men contracted the bulimia.

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bulimarexiabulimic