Search Result for "disease": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (1)

1. an impairment of health or a condition of abnormal functioning;


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Disease \Dis*ease"\, n. [OE. disese, OF. desaise; des- (L. dis-) + aise ease. See Ease.] 1. Lack of ease; uneasiness; trouble; vexation; disquiet. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] So all that night they passed in great disease. --Spenser. [1913 Webster] To shield thee from diseases of the world. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. An alteration in the state of the body or of some of its organs, interrupting or disturbing the performance of the vital functions, and causing or threatening pain and weakness; malady; affection; illness; sickness; disorder; -- applied figuratively to the mind, to the moral character and habits, to institutions, the state, etc. [1913 Webster] Diseases desperate grown, By desperate appliances are relieved. --Shak. [1913 Webster] The instability, injustice, and confusion introduced into the public counsels have, in truth, been the mortal diseases under which popular governments have every where perished. --Madison. [1913 Webster] Disease germ. See under Germ. Syn: Distemper; ailing; ailment; malady; disorder; sickness; illness; complaint; indisposition; affection. -- Disease, Disorder, Distemper, Malady, Affection. Disease is the leading medical term. Disorder mean? much the same, with perhaps some slight reference to an irregularity of the system. Distemper is now used by physicians only of the diseases of animals. Malady is not a medical term, and is less used than formerly in literature. Affection has special reference to the part, organ, or function disturbed; as, his disease is an affection of the lungs. A disease is usually deep-seated and permanent, or at least prolonged; a disorder is often slight, partial, and temporary; malady has less of a technical sense than the other terms, and refers more especially to the suffering endured. In a figurative sense we speak of a disease mind, of disordered faculties, and of mental maladies. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Disease \Dis*ease"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Diseased; p. pr. & vb. n. Diseasing.] 1. To deprive of ease; to disquiet; to trouble; to distress. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] His double burden did him sore disease. --Spenser. [1913 Webster] 2. To derange the vital functions of; to afflict with disease or sickness; to disorder; -- used almost exclusively in the participle diseased. [1913 Webster] He was diseased in body and mind. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

disease n 1: an impairment of health or a condition of abnormal functioning
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

55 Moby Thesaurus words for "disease": affection, affliction, ailment, bane, blight, bug, bugbear, burden, calamity, cancer, complaint, condition, contagion, contaminate, crushing burden, curse, death, debility, decrepitude, destruction, disability, disorder, epizootic, evil, feebleness, grievance, harm, ill, illness, infect, infection, infirmity, infliction, malady, malaise, misery, murrain, nemesis, open wound, pest, pestilence, plague, running sore, scourge, sickliness, sickness, syndrome, taint, thorn, torment, unhealthiness, vexation, virus, visitation, woe