[eydz] 
| a disease of the immune system characterized by increased susceptibility to opportunistic infections, as pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and candidiasis, to certain cancers, as Kaposi's sarcoma, and to neurological disorders: caused by a retrovirus and transmitted chiefly through blood or blood products that enter the body's bloodstream, esp. by sexual contact or contaminated hypodermic needles. |
[eyd] | 1. | to provide support for or relief to; help: to aid the homeless victims of the fire. |
| 2. | to promote the progress or accomplishment of; facilitate. |
| 3. | to give help or assistance. |
| 4. | help or support; assistance. |
| 5. | a person or thing that aids or furnishes assistance; helper; auxiliary. |
| 6. | aids, Manège.
|
| 7. | aide-de-camp. |
| 8. | foreign aid. |
| 9. | a payment made by feudal vassals to their lord on special occasions. |
| 10. | English History. (after 1066) any of several revenues received by a king in the Middle Ages from his vassals and other subjects, limited by the Magna Charta to specified occasions. |
[eyd] | the division of the United States International Development Cooperation Agency that coordinates the various foreign aid programs with U.S. foreign policy: established in 1961. |
| economic, technical, or military aid given by one nation to another for purposes of relief and rehabilitation, for economic stabilization, or for mutual defense. |
| aid (ād) intr. & tr.v. aid·ed, aid·ing, aids To help or furnish with help, support, or relief. See Synonyms at help. n.
[Middle English aiden, from Old French aider, from Latin adiūtāre, frequentative of adiuvāre, to help : ad-, to; see ad- in Indo-European roots + iuvāre, to help.] aid'er n. |
| AIDS (ādz) n. A severe immunological disorder caused by the retrovirus HIV, resulting in a defect in cell-mediated immune response that is manifested by increased susceptibility to opportunistic infections and to certain rare cancers, especially Kaposi's sarcoma. It is transmitted primarily by exposure to contaminated body fluids, especially blood and semen. [a(cquired) i(mmune) d(eficiency) s(yndrome).] |
Acronym for acquired immune deficiency syndrome, a fatal disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. Believed to have originated in Africa, AIDS has become an epidemic, infecting tens of millions of people worldwide. The virus, which is transmitted from one individual to another through the exchange of body fluids (such as blood or semen), attacks white blood cells, thereby causing the body to lose its capacity to ward off infection. As a result, many AIDS patients die of opportunistic infections that strike their debilitated bodies. AIDS first appeared in the United States in 1981, primarily among homosexuals and intravenous drug users who shared needles, but throughout the world, it is also transmitted by heterosexual contact. Today, scientists are hopeful that AIDS can be managed by new drugs, such as protease inhibitors, and need not be fatal. (See AZT.)
AID abbr.
artificial insemination donor
AIDS (ādz)
n.
A severe immunological disorder caused by HIV, transmitted primarily through venereal routes or by exposure to contaminated blood or blood products, resulting in a defect in cell-mediated immune response manifested by increased susceptibility to opportunistic infections and to certain rare cancers, especially Kaposi's sarcoma.
AIDS jargon
/aydz/ A* Infected Disk Syndrome ("A*" is a glob pattern that matches, but is not limited to, Apple Computer), this condition is quite often the result of practicing unsafe SEX.
See virus, worm, Trojan horse, virgin.
[The Jargon File]
(1995-04-13)
| AIDS acquired immune deficiency syndrome |