kissing disease
1
3.7
- noun
- /ˈkɪsɪŋ dɪˈziːz/
- Informal
:
enfermedad del beso
- The kissing disease is primarily transmitted through saliva, often by sharing drinks or foods.
Examples
-
Mononucleosis, commonly known as the kissing disease, can make you feel extremely tired.
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After she was diagnosed, her friends joked that she had caught the kissing disease from too many make-out sessions.
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You've all heard about kissing disease, mononucleosis.
Synonyms
15
7.4
An infection that causes fever, sore throat, tiredness, and swollen glands
3
6.5
A disease you catch that causes fever, swollen glands, and long tiredness
A sickness caused by a virus that gives fever, sore throat, and swollen glands
An infectious illness that causes fever, tiredness, and swollen glands
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase 'kissing disease' is directly compositional: combining 'kissing' and 'disease' signals a disease associated with or transmitted by kissing (saliva). A B1 learner who knows both words can readily infer this basic meaning even if they do not know the medical term 'mononucleosis', so the expression is transparent.
Etymology
Kissing disease gets its name from the simple picture of two people kissing and passing saliva to each other. Because the germ that causes 'mononucleosis' is often passed this way, the word disease here refers to that illness today.