Advertisement

Advertisement

whooping cough

[ hoo-ping, hoop-ing ]

noun

, Pathology.
  1. an infectious disease of the respiratory mucous membrane, caused by Bordetella pertussis, characterized by a series of short, convulsive coughs followed by a deep inspiration accompanied by a whooping sound.


whooping cough

/ ˈhuːpɪŋ /

noun

  1. an acute infectious disease characterized by coughing spasms that end with a shrill crowing sound on inspiration: caused by infection with the bacillus Bordetella pertussis Technical namepertussis


whooping cough

/ ho̅o̅pĭng,hpĭng,wo̅o̅pĭng,wpĭng /

  1. An infectious disease caused by the bacterium Bordatella pertussis, seen most commonly in children and characterized by coughing spasms often ending in loud gasps. Vaccinations usually given during infancy confer immunity to the disease.
  2. Also called pertussis


whooping cough

  1. An acute and infectious disease occurring mainly in children and characterized by violent coughing. Caused by a kind of bacteria , whooping cough has largely been eradicated in the United States through a program of vaccination , which is begun when infants are just three months old.


Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of whooping cough1

First recorded in 1730–40

Discover More

Example Sentences

A whooping cough epidemic did little to turn the tide of the movement from 2011-12, according to a new study.

Pertussis, or “whooping cough,” is caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis.

Whooping cough is deadly, on the rise, and preventable with a vaccine.

The original whooping cough vaccines, introduced in the 1940s, were a messy soup, made from dead whole cells of bacteria.

You have a better chance of being killed by malaria or whooping cough.

First love is merely the more picturesque successor of measles and whooping-cough.

Whooping-cough is very infectious, and, contrary to the popular opinion, it is frequently a fatal disease.

The objects used by a child that has whooping-cough should be disinfected, and its books and papers are to be burnt.

Pertussin is a proprietary whooping-cough remedy manufactured by the Kommandantan Apotheke, Berlin.

One child coming down with scarlet fever, measles, or whooping cough can infect twenty others at an afternoon party.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement