chin-cough

chin-cough

A child with chin-cough rests in bed, coughing.

Definition

Noun: chin-cough is an archaic or dialectal term for whooping cough, a contagious bacterial infection of the respiratory tract characterized by severe coughing spells that often end with a "whooping" sound when the person breathes in. The name "chin-cough" likely derives from the forceful coughing that can cause the chin to jerk or strike the chest.

Usage Examples
  • (Whooping cough, a serious illness.)
  • (An older term for whooping cough.)
  • (Whooping cough.)
Advanced Usage
  • is rarely used in modern medical contexts; it appears mostly in historical documents, literature, or dialect speech. It is considered a non-standard or regional term.
  • Example: (Historical usage.)
Variants and Related Words
  • Whooping cough (n): the modern, standard term for the same disease.
    • The child was vaccinated against whooping cough. (The current medical name.)
  • Pertussis (n): the scientific or clinical name for the disease.
    • Pertussis is caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. (Medical terminology.)
Synonyms
  • Whooping cough: the common modern synonym.
  • Pertussis: the formal medical term.
Related Idioms
  • No idioms directly use , but the phrase "to cough one's head off" describes severe coughing, similar to the symptom of chin-cough.
    • He was coughing his head off with that chin-cough. (Coughing violently.)
Phrasal Verbs
  • No phrasal verbs are associated with , as it is a noun for a specific illness.