ˈrā]bēz sometimes ˈra] or ]ˌb-\ noun
( plural rabies )
Etymology: New Latin, from Latin, rage, madness, from rabere to rave
: an acute virus disease of warm-blooded animals that attacks chiefly the nervous system, is uniformly fatal when untreated, and is transmitted with infected saliva usually through the bite of a rabid animal — see dumb rabies , furious rabies , pasteur treatment