measles

Language: en

🇺🇸 /ˈmiːzəlz/

📖 Definitions

  1. noun
    An acute infectious disease caused by the measles virus, characterized by fever, cough, runny nose, and a distinctive red rash that spreads over the body.; A similar disease in animals, especially a viral infection in pigs or cattle characterized by skin lesions.; A condition in timber where the wood is discolored with small spots, resembling the rash of the disease.

🔗 Details

Word forms

uncountable

Collocations

catch measleshave measlesGerman measlesmeasles outbreakmeasles vaccinemeasles rash

Derivatives

measly

Synonyms

rubeolamorbilli

Commonly confused

rubella
EN: 'Rubella' (German measles) is a different, milder viral disease; 'measles' (rubeola) is the more severe illness.

Spelling tips

EN: Despite ending in -s, 'measles' is a singular noun and takes singular verb agreement: 'Measles is highly contagious.' Do not write 'measle' as a singular form.

💬 Examples

  1. The child was kept home from school after being diagnosed with measles.

  2. The farmer noticed signs of measles in several of his pigs.

  3. The carpenter rejected the plank because of the measles in the grain.