Meaning & use
swamp fever
An old-fashioned, informal name for malaria, a serious tropical disease spread by mosquitoes.
See it in a sentence
Nineteenth-century settlers in the humid lowlands often fell ill with what doctors then called swamp fever.
Long before the disease was understood, entire river communities were devastated by swamp fever each summer.
A note on using this word
Swamp fever is a folk term rather than a precise medical name, so context determines which disease it refers to.
Words with a similar meaning
This term is best learned through its definition and examples.
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Another way to use it
2. noun
A common name for equine infectious anemia, a viral disease that affects horses and other equines.
The veterinarian quarantined the horse and tested it for swamp fever after it lost weight rapidly.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “swamp fever”, then compare your use with the examples above.