n [ U ]
a disease that has affected many of the soldiers who fought in the Gulf War in 1991, though its cause is not fully known. Those with the disease feel very weak and tired all the time. Some people believe that it is connected with the use during the war of chemicals or depleted uranium (= a type of heavy, slightly radioactive metal, sometimes used in ammunition and armour). But the governments of Britain and America have not been willing to accept that this is the case, or even that the disease exists.