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Webster 1913 Edition
Dysentery
Dys′en-ter-y
,Noun.
[L.
dysenteria
, Gr. [GREEK]; δυσ-
ill, bad + [GREEK], pl. [GREEK], intestines, fr. ἐντόσ
within, fr. [GREEK] in, akin to E. in
: cf. F. dysenterie
. See Dys
, and In
.] (Med.)
A disease attended with inflammation and ulceration of the colon and rectum, and characterized by griping pains, constant desire to evacuate the bowels, and the discharge of mucus and blood.
☞ When acute, dysentery is usually accompanied with high fevers. It occurs epidemically, and is believed to be communicable through the medium of the alvine discharges.
Webster 1828 Edition
Dysentery
DYS'ENTERY
,Noun.
A flux in which the stools consist chiefly of blood and mucus or other morbid matter, accompanied with griping of the bowels, and followed by tenesmus.