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blackwater

blackwater

8 9.9
An illness that makes urine dark when severe malaria destroys red blood cells
  • noun
  • /ˈblækˌwɔːtər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : fiebre de agua negra
  • He's got amoebic dysentery and blackwater fever.

Examples

  • Billy has blackwater fever.

  • They may not know blackwater fever... but they know when somebody is dying.

  • You don't know that this is blackwater fever.

  • They've never seen blackwater fever in their lives.

  • Complications can include cerebral malaria with neurological symptoms including fits and altered consciousness, pulmonary oedema, and blackwater fever (failure of coagulation with gross haematuria).

    Academic text (2012)
  • The doctor diagnosed him with blackwater fever after he noticed the dark color of his urine.

  • During her trip to the tropics, she became ill with blackwater fever, which caused her urine to turn dark.

  • After experiencing symptoms of blackwater fever, he was advised to seek immediate medical attention.

Synonyms

blackwater fever
vsblackwater
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A severe form of malaria that destroys red blood cells and causes dark urine and kidney failure

refers generally to diseases marked by dark urine after rapid red cell breakdown

Compounds

blackwater fever
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A severe form of malaria that destroys red blood cells and causes dark urine and kidney failure

Surface Forms

blackwater singular
blackwaters plural

Morphology

blackwater = black + water (semi-transparent) = black + water

The components 'black' + 'water' are semantically clear, but the term denotes a specific medical condition (or dark urine) that is specialized and not fully predictable by a B1 learner.

Etymology

Blackwater comes from the simple English words black and water, because people with this serious illness often pass very dark urine that looks like 'black' water. So blackwater names the disease by its main sign — the dark urine.