MENINGITIS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does meningitis mean? 

• MENINGITIS (noun)
  The noun MENINGITIS has 1 sense:

1. infectious disease characterized by inflammation of the meninges (the tissues that surround the brain or spinal cord) usually caused by a bacterial infection; symptoms include headache and stiff neck and fever and nausea

  Familiarity information: MENINGITIS used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MENINGITIS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Infectious disease characterized by inflammation of the meninges (the tissues that surround the brain or spinal cord) usually caused by a bacterial infection; symptoms include headache and stiff neck and fever and nausea

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("meningitis" is a kind of...):

infectious disease (a disease transmitted only by a specific kind of contact)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "meningitis"):

choriomeningitis (a cerebral meningitis with cellular infiltration of the meninges)

brain fever; cerebrospinal fever; cerebrospinal meningitis; epidemic meningitis (meningitis caused by bacteria and often fatal)

cerebromeningitis; encephalomeningitis; meningoencephalitis (inflammation of the brain and spinal cord and their meninges)

leptomeningitis (inflammation of the leptomeninges)

 Context examples 

Also called leptomeningeal carcinoma, leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, leptomeningeal metastasis, meningeal carcinomatosis, meningeal metastasis, and neoplastic meningitis.

(Carcinomatous meningitis, NCI Dictionary)

The signs and symptoms include an initial flu-like phase, followed by a second phase in which patients may develop meningitis, liver failure and renal failure.

(Leptospirosis, NCI Thesaurus)

B. casei has a distinctive cheese smell, is commonly found in milk products and on human skin, but is pathogenic and known to be associated with sepsis, meningitis, and peritonitis.

(Brevibacterium casei, NCI Thesaurus)

The most common infection is meningitis, which is an inflammation of the thin tissue that surrounds the brain and spinal cord.

(Meningococcal Infections, NIH)

Representative examples include encephalitis, poliomyelitis, arachnoiditis, and meningitis.

(Central Nervous System Infectious Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)

Meningitis is inflammation of the thin tissue that surrounds the brain and spinal cord, called the meninges.

(Meningitis, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

Also called carcinomatous meningitis, leptomeningeal carcinoma, leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, leptomeningeal metastasis, meningeal carcinomatosis, and neoplastic meningitis.

(Meningeal metastasis, NCI Dictionary)

If the virus infects the central nervous system, it can cause brain inflammation and meningitis.

(Tick salivary glands can be a tool to study virus transmission and infection, National Institutes of Health)

But sometimes the germs spread into the lungs or the bloodstream, and then Hib can cause serious problems such as meningitis and pneumonia.

(Haemophilus Infections, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Meningitis causes swelling in the brain and spinal cord and can kill within hours.

(Experts Link Fatal Mystery Illness in Liberia to Meningitis Bacteria, VOA)