hooping-cough

hooping-cough

A child with hooping-cough is resting in bed.

Definition

Noun: - Medical condition: "hooping-cough" is an older, alternative spelling of "whooping cough," an infectious disease of the respiratory system, especially in children, characterized by severe coughing fits followed by a loud, gasping intake of air (the "whoop"). It is caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis.

Usage Examples
  • (The child had the infectious respiratory disease.)
  • (A historical reference to the disease's prevalence.)
  • (Preventive medicine against the condition.)
Advanced Usage
  • "to have a bad bout of hooping-cough": to experience a severe episode of the disease.

    • She missed school for a month due to a bad bout of hooping-cough. (She suffered a serious case of the illness.)
  • "hooping-cough remedy": any treatment or cure for the condition, often historical or folk-based.

    • Grandmother swore by honey and lemon as a hooping-cough remedy. (A traditional, non-medical treatment.)
Variants and Related Words
  • Whooping cough (n): the standard modern spelling of the same disease.

    • Whooping cough is highly contagious and requires prompt medical attention. (The contemporary term for the illness.)
  • Pertussis (n): the medical name for hooping-cough, from Latin pertussis meaning "intense cough."

    • Pertussis can be prevented through the DTaP vaccine. (The clinical term for the condition.)
Synonyms
  • Whooping cough: the most common synonym.
  • Pertussis: the formal medical synonym.
Related Idioms
  • "cough like a seal": to cough with a loud, harsh sound, reminiscent of the "whoop" in hooping-cough (not a direct idiom but a descriptive phrase).

    • He was coughing like a seal, and the doctor suspected hooping-cough. (The cough resembled the characteristic sound of the disease.)
  • "the hundred-day cough": a colloquial name for hooping-cough, referring to its long duration.

    • They called it the hundred-day cough because it lingered for months. (A folk name emphasizing the illness's persistence.)