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hydrophobia

   Also found in: Medical, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.04 sec.
hy·dro·pho·bi·a  (hdr-fb-)
n.
1. An abnormal fear of water.
2. Rabies.

hydrophobia [ˌhaɪdrəˈfəʊbɪə]
n
1. (Medicine / Pathology) another name for rabies
2. (Psychiatry) a fear of drinking fluids, esp that of a person with rabies, because of painful spasms when trying to swallow Compare aquaphobia

hydrophobia  (hdr-fb-)
1. Abnormal fear of water.
2. Rabies.
Word History Hydrophobia is an older term for the disease rabies, and it means "fear of water." Because of this name, many people think that rabies makes one afraid of water. In fact, this is not the case (although rabies does cause mental confusion of other kinds). The name hydrophobia comes from the fact that animals and people with rabies get spasms in their throat muscles that are so painful that they cannot eat or drink, and so will refuse water in spite of being very thirsty.

hydrophobia
an abnormal fear of water.
See also: Water
rabies in human beings. Also called lyssa.
See also: Rabies
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.hydrophobia - a symptom of rabies in humans consisting of an aversion to swallowing liquids
symptom - (medicine) any sensation or change in bodily function that is experienced by a patient and is associated with a particular disease
2.hydrophobia - a morbid fear of water
simple phobia - any phobia (other than agoraphobia) associated with relatively simple well-defined stimuli
3.hydrophobia - an acute viral disease of the nervous system of warm-blooded animals (usually transmitted by the bite of a rabid animal); rabies is fatal if the virus reaches the brain
zoonosis, zoonotic disease - an animal disease that can be transmitted to humans
Translations
hydrophobia [ˌhaɪdrəˈfəʊbɪə] Nhidrofobia f
hydrophobia [ˌhaɪdrəˈfəʊbiə] nhydrophobie f
hydrophobia [ˌhaɪdrəˈfəʊbɪə] nidrofobia
hydrophobia [ˌhaɪdrəˈfəʊbɪə] nidrofobia


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
In the course of a few days he showed symptoms of hydrophobia, and became raving toward night.
The doctors took over forty stitches in him and shot him full of that Pasteur dope for hydrophobia.
A lock-jaw that bends a man's head back to his heels; hydrophobia that makes him bark at his wife and babes; insanity that makes him eat grass; war, plague, cholera, famine, indicate a certain ferocity in nature, which, as it had its inlet by human crime, must have its outlet by human suffering.
 
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