Definition of "beriberi" [be•ri•be•ri]

• A disease caused by a deficiency of thiamine, endemic in eastern and southern Asia and characterized by neurological symptoms, cardiovascular abnormalities, and edema. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In 1803 Thomas Christie, a physician with the British army in Sri Lanka, wrote: the chief cause of beriberi is certainly a want of stimulating and nourishing diet ..."
• "That in the opinion of this Association, sufficient evidence has now been produced in support of the view that beriberi is associated with the continuous consumption of white (polished) rice as the staple article of diet, and that the"
• "It had all the more reason to take this line since beriberi is a disease with pronounced local and periodic tendencies (as defined by von Pettenkofer)."