Phrase guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
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noun
A transmissible spongiform encephalopathy found in deer, typified by chronic weight loss leading to death.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: biology, medicine, natural-sciences, pathology, sciences, veterinary, zoology
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: CWD, zombie deer disease
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Any of various chronic diseases that involve wasting in various animals, human or nonhuman.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: medicine, sciences
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
a wildlife disease (akin to bovine spongiform encephalitis) that affects deer and elk
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: animal disease
History
The common-noun sense that functions as a hypernym over the names of various specific diseases predates the sense naming one specific disease in deer. The latter sense appears to have evolved through misparsing in which the former was misinterpreted as being the latter; but it is now an established term for that specific disease (thus, a fait accompli).
Across languages
10 source translations are retained for this English entry.
