Dengue

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Dengue \Den"gue\ (d[e^][ng]"g[asl]), n. [See Note, below.]
     (Med.)
     A specific epidemic disease attended with high fever,
     cutaneous eruption, and severe pains in the head and limbs,
     resembling those of rheumatism; -- called also {breakbone
     fever}. It occurs in India, Egypt, the West Indies, etc., is


     of short duration, and rarely fatal.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: This disease, when it first appeared in the British
           West India Islands, was called the dandy fever, from
           the stiffness and constraint which it grave to the
           limbs and body. The Spaniards of the neighboring
           islands mistook the term for their word dengue,
           denoting prudery, which might also well express
           stiffness, and hence the term dengue became, as last,
           the name of the disease. --Tully.
           [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  dengue
       n : an infectious disease of the tropics transmitted by
           mosquitoes and characterized by rash and aching head and
           joints [syn: {dengue fever}, {dandy fever}, {breakbone
           fever}]