disease
[noun]
Synonyms: illness, affliction, ailment, complaint, condition, disorder, infection, infirmity, malady, sickness

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Antonyms: health
Related Words: bug, epizootic, misery, virus

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English Thesaurus: illness, disease, infection, condition, problem, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

dis‧ease S3 W1 /dɪˈziːz/ noun
[Date: 1300-1400; Language: Old French; Origin: desaise, from aise 'relaxed feeling, comfort']

1. [uncountable and countable] an illness which affects a person, animal, or plant
disease of
She suffers from a rare disease of the brain.
His father died of heart disease.
She contracted the disease while she was abroad on holiday.

2. [countable] something that is seriously wrong with society or with someone’s mind, behaviour etc:
Loneliness is a disease of our urban communities.
—diseased adjective:
diseased muscles
a diseased plant

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

disease
noun
ADJ. common | obscure, rare | dangerous, serious | mild | chronic | acute | degenerative | deadly, fatal, incurable, killer, terminal fears of a new killer disease
curable | preventable | communicable, contagious, infectious | non-communicable | congenital, hereditary, inherited | childhood childhood diseases such as mumps and chicken pox
tropical | insect-borne, water-borne | occupational | bowel, (coronary) heart, liver, etc. | mental | sexually transmitted, social, venereal patients suffering from venereal disease
circulatory, respiratory | Alzheimer's, Crohn's, etc.
QUANT. outbreak fears of an outbreak of Legionnaire's disease
VERB + DISEASE have, suffer from He has a serious lung disease.
catch, contract, get You can't catch the disease just from physical contact. She got a rare liver disease when she was only twenty.
die from/of Children are still dying in their millions Tobacco lowers the body's resistance to disease.
the risk of disease the risk of coronary heart disease
the spread of (a) disease measures to prevent the spread of the disease
the symptoms of a disease, the treatment for/of a disease
 ⇒ Special page at ILLNESS from preventable diseases.
cause a disease caused by a vitamin deficiency | carry, pass on, spread, transmit the ticks that carry the disease Such unhygienic practices spread disease. The disease is transmitted by mosquitoes.
diagnose | treat | combat, fight The government must take action to fight this deadly disease.
control, manage new drugs which help to control the disease
cure | prevent It's better to prevent disease by ensuring a clean water supply.
eradicate, stamp out, wipe out The disease has been eradicated from the world.
DISEASE + VERB spread They want to stop the disease spreading.
afflict sb, strike sb | kill sb The disease has killed 500 people so far this year.
PREP. with a/the ~ the number of people with this disease
~ of a disease of the digestive system
PHRASES a cure for a disease, the incidence of (a) disease the overall incidence of disease in the world
a patient with/sufferer from a disease Sufferers from Alzheimer's disease can't cope at home.
resistance to disease

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

disease

have a disease
How long have you had the disease?
suffer from a disease
About three million people suffer from the disease.
catch/get a disease (also contract a disease formal)
He caught the disease while travelling in Africa.
develop a disease
A few years ago, she developed a serious lung disease.
pass on a disease (also transmit a disease formal)
They may pass the disease on to their children.
cause a disease
Smoking is probably the major factor causing heart disease.
prevent a disease
It has been claimed that fibre in the diet could help prevent many serious diseases.
treat a disease
The disease can be treated with antibiotics.
cure a disease
The plant was believed to cure diseases in humans and cattle.
fight (a) disease (=try to stop it continuing)
Some bacteria help the human body fight disease.
a disease spreads
The government have no idea how far the disease has spread.
common
common childhood diseases
rare
She suffers from a rare bone disease.
serious
vaccines against serious diseases like hepatitis and meningitis
fatal/deadly (=that causes death)
If left untreated, the disease can be fatal.
Thousands of children are struck down by this deadly disease every year.
incurable (=that cannot be cured)
Diseases that were once thought incurable can be treated with antibiotics.
infectious/contagious (=that spreads quickly from one person to another)
The disease is highly contagious.
a skin/brain/lung etc disease
The fumes have caused skin diseases among the villagers.
heart/liver/kidney disease
He is being treated for kidney disease.
a hereditary/inherited disease (=that is passed from parent to child)
Parents are offered screening for some hereditary diseases.
a sexually-transmitted disease (=that is spread by having sex)
There was a worrying rise in the number of sexually-transmitted diseases.
a degenerative disease (=that gradually gets worse)
She was suffering from a degenerative disease that confined her to a wheelchair.
a chronic disease (=continuing for a long time and not possible to cure)
Chronic disease is sometimes seen as an inevitable part of being old.
a cure for a disease
There is no known cure for this disease.
an outbreak of a disease (=when a disease appears in a number of people or animals)
There has been an outbreak of the disease in Wales.
the spread of a disease
Knowing the facts about AIDS can prevent the spread of the disease.
the symptoms of a disease (=physical signs that someone has a disease)
To begin with, there are often no symptoms of the disease.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

illness something wrong with your health which makes you feel ill:
Her husband was in hospital for six months with a serious illness.
disease a particular illness, especially one that spreads to other people easily or that affects one part of your body:
childhood diseases such as measles and chickenpox
heart disease
infection an illness that is caused by bacteria or a virus:
His cough got worse and worse and became a chest infection.
condition a health problem that affects you permanently or for a long time:
a medical condition such as asthma
a heart condition
problem [usually after a noun] something that is wrong with a particular part of your body or your health in general:
a serious back problem
health problems
trouble [singular, only after a noun] illness or pain that affects a particular part of your body:
I’ve had a bit of stomach trouble.
disorder formal an illness that prevents a particular organ of your body from working properly, or affects the way you behave:
a liver disorder
a blood disorder
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder.
bug informal an illness that spreads to other people very easily but that is not very serious:
There’s a bug going round at school and a lot of the children are absent.
a flu bug
complaint medical an illness that affects a particular part of your body, especially one that is not very serious – used by doctors:
a minor skin complaint
Deakin suffers from a back complaint called arachnoiditis.
ailment /ˈeɪlmənt/ formal an illness that affects a particular part of your body, especially one that is not serious:
People often go to their doctor about relatively minor ailments.
The ointment is used to treat ailments such as small wounds and insect bites.
sickness the state of being ill, especially when it stops you working:
absence from work due to sickness
ill health formal the state of being ill, usually for a long period of time:
Research shows that there is a link between air pollution and ill health.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲