miliary tuberculosis
- noun
- /ˈmɪljəri tjuːbərˈkjuːləs/
- Specialized
:
tuberculosis miliar
- The patient was diagnosed with miliary tuberculosis after imaging revealed numerous tiny lesions in the lungs.
Examples
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Due to its rapid spread, miliary tuberculosis can be particularly dangerous if not treated early.
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I learned that miliary tuberculosis can affect multiple organs.
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A blood test confirmed the suspicion of miliary tuberculosis, prompting immediate medical intervention.
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The doctor diagnosed her with miliary tuberculosis.
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A blood test confirmed the suspicion of miliary tuberculosis, prompting immediate medical intervention.
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Due to its rapid spread, miliary tuberculosis can be particularly dangerous if not treated early.
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The patient was diagnosed with miliary tuberculosis after imaging revealed numerous tiny lesions in the lungs.
Synonyms
47
3.2
A serious disease that usually affects the lungs but can also affect other body parts
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'miliary' describes a pattern of many small, millet-like nodules and 'tuberculosis' names the disease, so the phrase denotes tuberculosis characterized by numerous tiny tubercles. Although 'miliary' is specialist medical vocabulary, the adjective+noun combination follows normal compositional rules, so a learner who knows both constituent meanings can infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The name miliary tuberculosis comes from miliary, a word linked to the small grain 'millet', because the illness makes many tiny, seed-like spots that look like millet seeds. That's why miliary tuberculosis means a type of tuberculosis with many small spots in the body.