whooping-cough

A child with whooping-cough is resting in bed.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • An infectious disease: "whooping-cough" is a serious infectious disease of the respiratory tract, primarily affecting children, characterized by severe, uncontrollable coughing fits followed by a sharp, high-pitched intake of breath that sounds like a "whoop."

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The child was diagnosed with whooping-cough after weeks of persistent coughing. (The infection caused severe coughing fits.)
  • Vaccination is the most effective way to prevent whooping-cough. (The disease is preventable through immunization.)

Advanced Usage

• "to have whooping-cough": to be suffering from this disease.

  • She missed a month of school because she had whooping-cough. (She was ill with the infection.)

• "whooping-cough vaccine": a medical preparation given to prevent the disease.

  • The whooping-cough vaccine is often combined with tetanus and diphtheria vaccines. (A preventive shot for the disease.)

Variants and Related Words

• Whoop (n): a loud, sharp cry or sound, like the characteristic intake of breath in whooping-cough.

  • The patient let out a whoop after a long coughing fit. (A sharp, high-pitched sound.)

• Cough (n/v): the act of expelling air from the lungs with a sudden sound, often due to illness.

  • A dry cough is common in the early stages of whooping-cough. (A type of cough.)

Synonyms

• Pertussis: the medical term for whooping-cough.
  • Pertussis is highly contagious among unvaccinated populations. (The formal name for the disease.)

Related Idioms

• "Coughing fit": a sudden, intense period of coughing, typical of whooping-cough.

  • The whooping-cough caused a coughing fit that lasted several minutes. (A severe episode of coughing.)

• "Whooping sound": the distinctive noise made during the inhalation after a cough in whooping-cough.

  • The doctor recognized the whooping sound as a sign of pertussis. (The characteristic symptom.)