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Definition of "malaria" []

  • An infectious disease characterized by cycles of chills, fever, and sweating, caused by a protozoan of the genus Plasmodium in red blood cells, which is transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected female anopheles mosquito. (noun)
  • Archaic Bad or foul air; miasma. (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.

Use "malaria" in a sentence
  • "Indeed, the pestilence is so closely linked to Roman history that the word "malaria" comes from the Italian for "bad air.""
  • "A very high incidence of malaria and malaria is bad for pregnancies."
  • "And for anyone not totally up to speed on their African diseases, malaria is what happens when an infected mosquito bites you."