Hypertext Webster Gateway: "pox"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Pox \Pox\, n. [For pocks, OE. pokkes. See {Pock}. It is plural
in form but is used as a singular.] (Med.)
Strictly, a disease by pustules or eruptions of any kind, but
chiefly or wholly restricted to three or four diseases, --
the smallpox, the chicken pox, and the vaccine and the
venereal diseases.
Note: Pox, when used without an epithet, as in imprecations,
formerly signified smallpox; but it now signifies
syphilis.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Pox \Pox\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Poxed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Poxing}.]
To infect with the pox, or syphilis.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
pox
n 1: a common venereal disease caused by the Treponema pallidum
spirochete; symptoms change through progressive stages;
can be congenital (transmitted through the placenta)
[syn: {syphilis}, {syph}]
2: a contagious disease characterized by purulent skin
eruptions that may leave pock marks
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