Anthrax AN'THRAX, n. [Gr.; supra.] A carbuncle; a malignant ulcer,
with intense burning. The ancients gave this name to a gem, and it is
sometimes used for lithanthrax or pit-coal.
anthrax
n 1: a highly infectious animal disease (especially cattle and
sheep); it can be transmitted to people [syn: anthrax,
splenic fever]
2: a disease of humans that is not communicable; caused by
infection with Bacillus anthracis followed by septicemia
anthrax nounEtymology: Middle English antrax carbuncle, from Latin
anthrax, from Greek, coal, carbuncle Date: 1861
an infectious disease of warm-blooded animals (as cattle and sheep) caused
by a spore-forming bacterium (Bacillus anthracis), transmissible
to humans especially by the handling of infected products (as wool), and
characterized by cutaneous ulcerating nodules or by often fatal lesions
in the lungs; also the bacterium causing anthrax
Anthrax
a disease, especially in cattle, due to the invasion of a
living organism which, under certain conditions, breeds rapidly; called
also splenic fever.
Anthrax \An"thrax\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ? coal, carbuncle.]
1. (Med.)
(a) A carbuncle.
(b) A malignant pustule.
2. (Biol.) A microscopic, bacterial organism ({Bacillus
anthracis}), resembling transparent rods. [See Illust.
under Bacillus.]
3. An infectious disease of cattle and sheep. It is ascribed
to the presence of a rod-shaped bacterium ({Bacillus
anthracis}), the spores of which constitute the contagious
matter. It may be transmitted to man by inoculation. The
spleen becomes greatly enlarged and filled with bacteria.
Called also splenic fever.
Malignant \Ma*lig"nant\, a. [L. malignans, -antis, p. pr. of
malignare, malignari, to do or make maliciously. See
Malign, and cf. Benignant.]
1. Disposed to do harm, inflict suffering, or cause distress;
actuated by extreme malevolence or enmity; virulently
inimical; bent on evil; malicious.
A malignant and a turbaned Turk. --Shak.
2. Characterized or caused by evil intentions; pernicious.
``Malignant care.'' --Macaulay.
Some malignant power upon my life. --Shak.
Something deleterious and malignant as his touch.
--Hawthorne.
3. (Med.) Tending to produce death; threatening a fatal
issue; virulent; as, malignant diphtheria.
Malignant pustule (Med.), a very contagious disease,
transmitted to man from animals, characterized by the
formation, at the point of reception of the virus, of a
vesicle or pustule which first enlarges and then breaks
down into an unhealthy ulcer. It is marked by profound
exhaustion and usually fatal. Called also charbon, and
sometimes, improperly, anthrax.
Carbuncle \Car"bun*cle\, n. [L. carbunculus a little coal, a
bright kind of precious stone, a kind of tumor, dim. of carbo
coal: cf. F. carboncle. See Carbon.]
1. (Min.) A beautiful gem of a deep red color (with a mixture
of scarlet) called by the Greeks anthrax; found in the
East Indies. When held up to the sun, it loses its deep
tinge, and becomes of the color of burning coal. The name
belongs for the most part to ruby sapphire, though it has
been also given to red spinel and garnet.
2. (Med.) A very painful acute local inflammation of the
subcutaneous tissue, esp. of the trunk or back of the
neck, characterized by brawny hardness of the affected
parts, sloughing of the skin and deeper tissues, and
marked constitutional depression. It differs from a boil
in size, tendency to spread, and the absence of a central
core, and is frequently fatal. It is also called
anthrax.
3. (Her.) A charge or bearing supposed to represent the
precious stone. It has eight scepters or staves radiating
from a common center. Called also escarbuncle.
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