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disease

[dih-zeez]

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noun

a disordered or incorrectly functioning organ, part, structure, or system of the body resulting from the effect of genetic or developmental errors, infection, poisons, nutritional deficiency or imbalance, toxicity, or unfavorable environmental factors; illness; sickness; ailment.

any abnormal condition in a plant that interferes with its vital physiological processes, caused by pathogenic microorganisms, parasites, unfavorable environmental, genetic, or nutritional factors, etc.

any harmful, depraved, or morbid condition, as of the mind or society: His fascination with executions is a disease.

decomposition of a material under special circumstances: tin disease.

verb (used with object)

to affect with disease; make ill.

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Disease is one of our favorite verbs.

So is kibitz. Does it mean:

to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax.

chat, to converse

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Origin:
1300–50; Middle English disese < Anglo-French dese(a)se, disaise; see dis-¹, ease

Related forms

dis·eas·ed·ly, adverb

dis·eas·ed·ness, noun

Synonyms
1. morbidity, complaint, derangement, distemper, indisposition, infirmity, disorder, malady.

Antonyms
1. health. 5. cure.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To disease

Example Sentences

Ten years ago people talked confidently of stopping Alzheimer's disease in its tracks.

This fungal disease can be chemically controlled.

They start but never finish treatments— and act as dangerous "carriers," spreading the disease to others.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

disease (dɪˈziːz)

—n
1.	any impairment of normal physiological function affecting all or part of an organism, esp a specific pathological change caused by infection, stress, etc, producing characteristic symptoms; illness or sickness in general
2.	a corresponding condition in plants
3.	any situation or condition likened to this: the disease of materialism

Related: pathological

[C14: from Old French desaise; see dis-¹, ease]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

disease

early 14c., "discomfort," from O.Fr. desaise, from des- "without, away" (see dis-) + aise "ease" (see ease). Sense of "sickness, illness" first recorded late 14c.; the word still sometimes was used in its lit. sense early 17c. Related: Diseased.

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

disease dis·ease (dĭ-zēz')
n.
A pathological condition of a body part, an organ, or a system resulting from various causes, such as infection, genetic defect, or environmental stress, and characterized by an identifiable group of signs or symptoms.

Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia

disease

a harmful deviation from the normal structural or functional state of an organism. A diseased organism commonly exhibits signs or symptoms indicative of its abnormal state. Thus, the normal condition of an organism must be understood in order to recognize the hallmarks of disease. Nevertheless, a sharp demarcation between disease and health is not always apparent

Learn more about disease with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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