Definition of "tuberculosis" []

• An infectious disease of humans and animals caused by the tubercle bacillus and characterized by the formation of tubercles on the lungs and other tissues of the body, often developing long after the initial infection. (noun)
• Tuberculosis of the lungs, characterized by the coughing up of mucus and sputum, fever, weight loss, and chest pain. (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.

• "-- The direct cause of tuberculosis is Koch's _Bacillus tuberculosis_."
• "Besides tuberculosis of the cerebral membranes with which children are afflicted, _tuberculosis of the brain_ may occur, although this disease is very rare."
• "Her doctor, Auguste Rollier, refused to use the word "tuberculosis," and"