Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. See whooping cough.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Whooping-cough.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The whooping cough.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a disease of the respiratory mucous membrane
Etymologies
- New Latin : Latin per-, thorough; see per- + Latin tussis, cough.
Examples
“To many in Boulder, endemic pertussis is no cause for alarm.”
“Seven infants have already died from the disease, also called pertussis, and about 2,500 cases have been reported — a six-fold increase over this time last year.”
Consumer Reports: Whooping cough epidemic: Adults and kids should be vaccinated
“In the Bay Area, cases of whooping cough otherwise known as pertussis are up nearly sixfold to 173 through May this year compared with the same period in 2009.”
“We were trying to figure out where he was exposed to pertussis, which is apparently what the smart kids call it these days.”
“Seven infants have already died from the disease, also called pertussis, and about 2,500 cases have been reported—a six-fold increase over this time last year.”
Consumer Reports: Whooping cough epidemic: Adults and kids should be vaccinated
“We're talking about diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, which also is known as pertussis, polio and hepatitis b.”
“Dianne Cherrie's daughter, Tori-Rose, was diagnosed with the illness, which is also known as pertussis, at 5 1/2 weeks.”
“Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is a bacterial infection that causes uncontrollable, severe coughing.”
“Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, can be a serious illness, especially in the very young.”
“Whooping cough, also called pertussis, is a highly contagious bacterial infection that causes severe coughing fits.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘pertussis’.
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•body-related words that make lovely baby boys'...
With thanks to quinn for the idea, seen here. It's true that most diseases cannot double as names for baby boys—but some can. And anyway in their absence I nominate (thanks to Colon/Colin) body p...
colon, lung, langerhans, cuticle, spleen, glottis, calyx, anus, peter, pertussis, strabismus, erysipelas and 26 more...
eudoxia perkussis Mar 29, 2007
wtlau I think it fits the definition; The word has the qualities of a cough. No different than the word buzz.
More to the point, it's what you would say if you coughed in the middle of saying "per-ussis". Mar 1, 2007
eudoxia humm.. but is it really? does it really sound like a cough? hmm Feb 24, 2007
wtlau It's a great word because of the plosive "t".
I like onomatopoeia. Feb 13, 2007