altitude sickness
5
4.4
- noun
- /ˈæl.tɪ.tjuːd ˈsɪk.nəs/
:
mal de altura
- Acetazolamide (Diamox), which is used (off license) to prevent or treat altitude sickness, is not recommended in pregnancy.
- symptoms of altitude sickness
- signs of altitude sickness
- avoid altitude sickness
It's the main remedy for altitude sickness in the Andes.
- It's the main remedy for altitude sickness in the Andes.
- It was a perfect storm of pancreatitis, pneumonia, blood, bacteria, alcohol poisoning, altitude sickness.
- And what happened was, and then I got, like, altitude sickness, which is hip, that's high altitude pulmonary edema, that's water in the lungs.
Examples
-
After reaching the mountain summit too quickly, several climbers in our group showed symptoms of altitude sickness like dizziness and fatigue.
-
That man has altitude sickness.
-
Altitude sickness affects different people at different levels and can come on when least expected.
Academic text (2005) -
Abrupt changes in elevation cause altitude sickness.
Blog text (23) -
As we climbed, Brown warned us of the hazards of altitude sickness.
Blog text (6) -
Altitude sickness, a serious and sometimes fatal condition caused by the lack of oxygen at extreme heights, posed another danger.
Academic text (2011) -
Altitude sickness can result in insomnia, headaches, and nausea.
Blog text (23) -
From time to time, Fenton rested long enough to let the altitude sickness pass and drank from a stream so icy it made his head ache.
Fiction book (1999) -
When climbing to high elevations, many people experience altitude sickness, which can include headaches and nausea.
-
To prevent altitude sickness, it is important to acclimatize slowly to high altitudes by taking breaks during the ascent.
Synonyms
1
4.7
A feeling of sickness, dizziness, and difficulty breathing in high places
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'altitude' (height above sea level) + 'sickness' (illness) yields illness caused by high altitude. This follows a common noun-noun compounding pattern and has clear cross-linguistic parallels, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the meaning.
Etymology
The term altitude sickness comes from a simple picture: altitude means height and sickness means being ill. When people climb high mountains the air gets thin and they may have headache, dizziness or nausea, so the phrase means 'being ill because of high places'.