Oxford Essential Dictionary
disease
noun
an illness, especially one that you can catch from another person:
Malaria and measles are diseases.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
disease
dis‧ease S3 W1 /dɪˈziːz/ BrE AmE 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
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ 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.
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + disease
▪ 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.
■ phrases
▪ 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.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ 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.
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
disease
dis·ease [disease diseases] [dɪˈziːz] [dɪˈziːz] noun uncountable, countable
1. an illness affecting humans, animals or plants, often caused by infection
• heart/liver/kidney, etc. disease
• health measures to prevent the spread of disease
• an infectious/contagious disease (= one that can be passed to sb very easily)
• It is not known what causes the disease.
• protection against sexually transmitted diseases
• He suffers from a rare blood disease.
• A fatty diet increases the risk of heart disease.
• the problem of controlling pests and disease with organic gardening methods
2. countable (formal) something that is very wrong with people's attitudes, way of life or with society
• Greed is a disease of modern society.
Word Origin:
Middle English (in the sense ‘lack of ease; inconvenience’): from Old French desaise ‘lack of ease’, from des- (expressing reversal) + aise ‘ease’.
Thesaurus:
disease noun C, U
• He suffers from a rare blood disease.
illness • • sickness • • infection • • condition • • ailment • • complaint • |informal bug • • virus • |medical disorder •
a serious/chronic disease/illness/infection/condition/ailment/disorder
have/suffer from a/an disease/illness/sickness/infection/condition/ailment/complaint/bug/virus/disorder
diagnose/treat a/an disease/illness/infection/condition/ailment/virus/disorder
recover from a/an disease/illness/sickness/infection/bug/virus/disorder
Disease or illness? Disease is used to talk about more severe physical medical problems, especially those that affect the organs:
• heart/kidney/liver disease
¤ heart/kidney/liver illness Illness is used to talk about most kinds of medical problems, including mental illness. Disease is not used about a period of illness:
• He died after a long illness.
¤ He died after a long disease.
Collocations:
Illnesses
Becoming ill
catch a cold/an infectious disease/the flu/(BrE) flu/pneumonia/a virus/(informal) a bug
get (BrE) ill/(NAmE) sick/a disease/AIDS/breast cancer/a cold/the flu/(BrE) flu/a migraine
come down with a cold/the flu/(BrE) flu
contract a deadly disease/a serious illness/HIV/AIDS
be infected with a virus/a parasite/HIV
develop cancer/diabetes/a rash/an ulcer/symptoms of hepatitis
have a heart attack/a stroke
provoke/trigger/produce an allergic reaction
block/burst/rupture a blood vessel
damage/sever a nerve/an artery/a tendon
Being ill
feel (BrE) ill/sick/nauseous/queasy
be running (BrE) a temperature/(NAmE) a fever
have a head cold/diabetes/heart disease/lung cancer/a headache/(BrE) a high temperature/(NAmE) a fever
suffer from asthma/malnutrition/frequent headaches/bouts of depression/a mental disorder
be laid up with/ (BrE) be in bed with a cold/the flu/(BrE) flu/a migraine
nurse a cold/a headache/a hangover
battle/fight cancer/depression/addiction/alcoholism
Treatments
examine a patient
diagnose a condition/disease/disorder
be diagnosed with cancer/diabetes/schizophrenia
prescribe/be given/be on/take drugs/medicine/medication/pills/painkillers/antibiotics
treat sb for cancer/depression/shock
have/undergo an examination/an operation/surgery/a kidney transplant/therapy/chemotherapy/treatment for cancer
have/be given an injection/(BrE) a flu jab/(NAmE) a flu shot/a blood transfusion/a scan/an X-ray
cure a disease/an ailment/cancer/a headache/a patient
prevent the spread of disease/further outbreaks/damage to the lungs
be vaccinated against the flu/(BrE) flu/the measles/(BrE) measles/polio/smallpox
enhance/boost/confer/build immunity to a disease
Synonyms:
disease
illness • disorder • infection • condition • ailment • bug
These are all words for a medical problem.
disease • a medical problem affecting humans, animals or plants, often caused by infection: ▪ He suffers from a rare blood disease.
illness • a medical problem, or a period of suffering from one: ▪ She died after a long illness.
disease or illness?
Disease is used to talk about more severe physical medical problems, especially those that affect the organs. Illness is used to talk about both more severe and more minor medical problems, and those that affect mental health: heart/kidney/liver illness ◊ mental disease. Disease is not used about a period of illness: she died after a long disease
disorder • (rather formal) an illness that causes a part of the body to stop functioning correctly: ▪ a rare disorder of the liver.
A disorder is generally not infectious. Disorder is used most frequently with words relating to mental problems, for example psychiatric, personality, mental and eating. When it is used to talk about physical problems, it is most often used with blood, bowel and kidney, and these are commonly serious, severe or rare.
infection • an illness that is caused by bacteria or a virus and that affects one part of the body: ▪ a throat infection
condition • a medical problem that you have for a long time because it is not possible to cure it: ▪ a heart condition
ailment • (rather formal) an illness that is not very serious: ▪ childhood ailments
bug • (informal) an infectious illness that is usually fairly mild: ▪ a nasty flu bug
to have/suffer from a(n) disease/illness/disorder/infection/condition/ailment/bug
to catch/contract/get/pick up a(n) disease/illness/infection/bug
Example Bank:
• Children are still dying in their millions from preventable diseases.
• Drugs can slow down the progression of the disease, but not cure it altogether.
• He has a serious lung disease.
• He suffered from coronary heart disease
• It's better to prevent disease by ensuring a clean water supply.
• She got a rare liver disease when she was only twenty.
• Such unhygienic practices spread disease.
• Sufferers from Alzheimer's disease can't cope at home.
• The disease has been eradicated from the world.
• The disease has killed 500 people so far this year.
• The disease is transmitted by mosquitoes.
• The government must take action to fight this deadly disease.
• They want to stop the disease from spreading.
• Tobacco lowers the body's resistance to disease.
• You can't catch the disease just from physical contact.
• a disease caused by a vitamin deficiency
• a disease of the digestive system
• childhood diseases such as mumps and chicken pox
• fears of a new killer disease
• fears of an outbreak of Legionnaire's disease
• measures to prevent the spread of the disease
• new drugs which help to control the disease
• patients suffering from venereal disease
• the number of people with this disease
• the overall incidence of disease in the world
• the risk of coronary heart disease
• the ticks that carry the disease
• He talked about controlling pests and disease with organic gardening methods.
• Measures have been taken to prevent the spread of disease.
• The problem was finally diagnosed as heart disease.
• This is an extremely infectious disease.
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition
disease / dɪˈziːz / noun
B1 [ C or U ] (an) illness of people, animals, plants, etc., caused by infection or a failure of health rather than by an accident:
a contagious/infectious disease
a common/rare/incurable/fatal disease
They reported a sudden outbreak of the disease in the south of the country.
The first symptom of the disease is a very high temperature.
She has caught/contracted (= begun to have) a lung disease/disease of the lungs.
Starvation and disease have killed thousands of refugees.
[ C ] something that is considered very bad in people or society:
The real disease affecting the country is inflation.
Word partners for disease
be affected by / have / suffer from a disease • contract / develop a disease • cure / detect / diagnose / treat a disease • die from / of a disease • carry / cause / spread disease • a chronic / deadly / hereditary / infectious disease • signs / symptoms of a disease • an outbreak of a disease
© Cambridge University Press 2013
Collins Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary
disease
[dɪzi͟ːz]
♦♦
diseases
1) N-VAR A disease is an illness which affects people, animals, or plants, for example one which is caused by bacteria or infection.
...the rapid spread of disease in the area.
...illnesses such as heart disease...
Doctors believe they have cured him of the disease.
2) N-COUNT: with supp You can refer to a bad attitude or habit, usually one that a group of people have, as a disease. [LITERARY]
...the wretched disease of racism eating away at the core of our society.
Syn:
blight
Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary
disease
dis·ease /dɪˈziːz/ noun, pl -eas·es
1 : an illness that affects a person, animal, or plant : a condition that prevents the body or mind from working normally
[count]
• infectious/contagious diseases
• He suffers from a rare genetic disease.
• a deadly/debilitating disease
• a disease of the mind/kidneys
• diseases of poultry
[noncount]
• Thousands die of heart disease each year.
• They are working to stop the spread of disease in rural areas.
• gum/liver disease
2 [count] : a problem that a person, group, organization, or society has and cannot stop
• The article cites intolerance as one of the most dangerous of society's diseases.
• He sees crime as a disease that too often plagues the poor and disadvantaged.
- dis·eased /dɪˈziːzd/ adj [more ~; most ~]
• She removed the diseased tree limbs.
• diseased cells/lungs/plants
• a diseased mind