ambulant plague
- noun
- /ˈæmbjələnt pleɪɡ/
- Archaic
:
peste ambulante
- Because ambulant plague presents with only mild symptoms, it is often mistaken for a routine illness.
Examples
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The spread of ambulant plague went undetected for weeks due to its subtler presentation.
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Doctors were relieved that the outbreak was limited to cases of ambulant plague rather than the more deadly form.
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The doctor diagnosed him with ambulant plague.
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Many people infected with ambulant plague can still work.
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Because ambulant plague presents with only mild symptoms, it is often mistaken for a routine illness.
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Doctors were relieved that the outbreak was limited to cases of ambulant plague rather than the more deadly form.
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Many people infected with ambulant plague can still work, indicating the milder nature of their condition.
Synonyms
A mild form of plague in which a person can still walk
A mild kind of plague that makes people less sick than usual
How Severe
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from the parts: 'ambulant' (able to walk) plus 'plague' (infectious disease) yields a form of plague in which the patient remains able to move about, i.e. a milder presentation. Although it is a clinical collocation and somewhat specialized, the sense is compositional and follows standard adjective+noun semantics, so a learner who knows both constituents will grasp the meaning.
Etymology
Ambulant plague gives a simple image: ambulant means 'walking' and plague means a serious disease, so imagine someone who is sick but still walking around. That's why ambulant plague now refers to a 'mild form' of the disease where the person is 'able to move about' rather than very ill.