Macmillan Dictionary

Did you know?

Click any word in a definition or example to find the entry for that word

To cause someone to have an illness or feel ill

cause

verb

used about something that makes an illness start

give

verb

to pass an illness or disease to another person

pass on

to give someone an infectious illness

infect

verb

to make someone get a disease, that can be spread from one person to another

spread

verb

if a disease spreads, or if something spreads it, it affects more people as it is passed from one person to another

go around

if something such as an illness or a piece of news is going around, people are giving or telling it to each other

communicate

verb

to pass a disease from one person or animal to another

carry

verb

to have a disease and be capable of infecting someone else with it

transmit

verb

to spread a disease from one person to another

develop

verb

to begin to appear as part of an illness or medical condition

charticle

a news article that consists of a chart … and only has a small amount of text

BuzzWord Article

Word of the Day

electron

a part of an atom that moves around the nucleus (=centre) and has a negative electrical charge

Open Dictionary

never event

an event that should never occur in a healthcare setting …

add a word

Blog

A must for anyone with an interest in the changing face of language. The Macmillan Dictionary blog explores English as it is spoken around the world today.

global English and language change from our blog