Hypertext Webster Gateway: "diphtheria"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Diphtheria \Diph*the"ri*a\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. ? leather (hence
taken in the sense of membrane): cf. ? to make soft, L.
depsere to knead.] (Med.)
A very dangerous contagious disease in which the air
passages, and especially the throat, become coated with a
false membrane, produced by the solidification of an
inflammatory exudation. Cf. {Group}.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
diphtheria
n : acute contagious bacterial infection marked by the formation
of a false membrane in the throat and other air passages
causing difficulty in breathing
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