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
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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a blood disorder
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Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder.