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hydrophobia
7 dictionary results for: Hydrophobia
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
hy·dro·pho·bi·a       [hahy-druh-foh-bee-uh] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.rabies.
2.an abnormal or unnatural dread of water.
[Origin: 1540–50; < LL < Gk hydrophobía. See hydro-1, -phobia]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
hy·dro·pho·bi·a       (hī'drə-fō'bē-ə)  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. An abnormal fear of water.
  2. Rabies.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
hydrophobia 
1392, from L.L. hydrophobia (Cælius Aurelianus, c.420), from Gk. hydrophobia (Celsius, 50 C.E.), from hydrophobos "dreading water," from hydr-, stem of hydros "water" + phobos "dread, fear" (see phobia). So called because human sufferers show aversion to water and have difficulty swallowing it.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
hydrophobia

noun
1. a symptom of rabies in humans consisting of an aversion to swallowing liquids 
2. a morbid fear of water 
3. an acute viral disease of the nervous system of warm-blooded animals (usually transmitted by the bite of a rabid animal); rabies is fatal if the virus reaches the brain [syn: rabies] 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
hydrophobia       (hī'drə-fō'bē-ə)  Pronunciation Key 
  1. Abnormal fear of water.
  2. Rabies.

Our Living Language  : Hydrophobia is an older term for the disease rabies, and it means "fear of water." Because of this name, many people think that rabies makes one afraid of water. In fact, this is not the case (although rabies does cause mental confusion of other kinds). The name hydrophobia comes from the fact that animals and people with rabies get spasms in their throat muscles that are so painful that they cannot eat or drink, and so will refuse water in spite of being very thirsty.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

hydrophobia hy·dro·pho·bi·a (hī'drə-fō'bē-ə)
n.

  1. An abnormal fear of water.
  2. Rabies.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Hydrophobia

Hy`dro*pho"bi*a\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ?; "y`dwr water + ? fear: cf. F. hydrophobie.] (Med.) (a) An abnormal dread of water, said to be a symptom of canine madness; hence: (b) The disease caused by a bite form, or inoculation with the saliva of, a rabid creature, of which the chief symptoms are, a sense of dryness and construction in the throat, causing difficulty in deglutition, and a marked heightening of reflex excitability, producing convulsions whenever the patient attempts to swallow, or is disturbed in any way, as by the sight or sound of water; rabies; canine madness. [Written also hydrophoby.]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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