fever blister
1
5.1
- noun
- /ˈfiːvər ˈblɪstər/
- US
:
herpes labial
- I was always told a story about my Uncle Clarence Andrews as a kid, who had fair skin and fever blisters, asking his older brother, Raymond—Waymond, do wasses burn your wipps?
- cold sores (a.k.a. fever blisters)
- cold sores
Examples
-
These are, you know, fever blisters.
Fiction book (2001) -
A hot-pink fever blister is budding on the corner of her mouth.
Fiction book (1996) -
Fever blisters.
Fiction book (1991) -
Jennifer nods and licks her fever blister distractedly.
Fiction book (1996) -
The presence of mucosal lesions compatible with fever blisters was noted by a sole blinded investigator.
Academic text (2003) -
After feeling a tingling sensation, she noticed a painful fever blister forming on her lip.
-
He tried to cover the fever blister with lipstick, but it still looked painful and irritating.
-
People often experience discomfort when they have a fever blister caused by the herpes virus.
Synonyms
52
2.4
A raised bump filled with fluid on the skin or a surface
8
3.2
Small painful blisters on the lips or around the mouth that a virus causes
A viral infection that causes painful blisters on the lips or around the mouth
A contagious infection that causes painful cold sores on or around the lips
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun combines 'fever' (high body temperature/illness) and 'blister' (a raised, fluid-filled bubble), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it denotes a blister associated with illness—typically the small sore on the lip. Although it is a specific medical term for a cold sore (HSV-1), the meaning is directly compositional and predictable from its parts.
Etymology
Fever blister is named after the simple picture of a small blister that often appears when someone has a fever or feels sick. That's why it now means a small, painful blister on the lip or face caused by a virus.