I. ˈfēvə(r) noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English fēfer, fēfor, from Latin febris; akin to Latin fovēre to warm — more at day
1.
a. : a rise of body temperature above the normal whether a natural response (as to infection) or artificially induced for therapeutic reasons
b. : an abnormal bodily state characterized by increased production of heat, accelerated heart action and pulse, and systemic debility with weakness, loss of appetite, and thirst
c. : any of various diseases of which fever is a prominent symptom
typhoid fever
yellow fever
quartan fever
2.
a. : a state of heightened or intense emotion (as of excitement, anxiety, or desire) : abnormal intensity
in a fervor and fever of resentment colonists all over the land voluntarily carried their tea to public bonfires — C.G.Bowers
terror hung over the West, the frontier was in a fever , forts and blockhouses were hastily constructed — American Guide Series: Ind.
a fever of passionate love — T.L.Peacock
b. : a widely contagious usually transient enthusiasm (as for gold prospecting, migration to the West, or stock speculation) : craze
caught uranium fever
football fever raged in the university
gripped by a fever for emigration
3. : a state of agitated or intense activity : urgent haste
what a fever of preparation seized the fort on the afternoon before that great day — Walter O'Meara
worked at a fever pitch
4. : an abnormal often unstable condition of mind or society
the fever is over; already unemployment … has started to drop — Economist
II. verb
( fevered ; fevered ; fevering -v(ə)riŋ ; fevers )
transitive verb
: to throw into a fever : affect with fever : heat , agitate
the gold coin, clutched deep in his trouser pocket, fevered him — A.J.Cronin
intransitive verb
1. : to contract or be in a fever : be or become feverish
the malaria victim fevers intermittently
he fevered for his far-off home
2. : to move or live feverishly
Germany has not experienced a revolution; she has only fevered through a convulsion caused by overexertion and fright — Maximillian Harden