Advertisement - Continue reading below

Definition of "murrain" [mur•rain]

  • Any of various highly infectious diseases of cattle, as anthrax. (noun)
  • Obsolete A pestilence or dire disease. (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 "murrain" in a sentence
  • "Egyptian cattle suffered a "murrain" -- with no apparent cause other than a divine curse."
  • "The disease was called murrain or distemper, and its malignity known, but not for a century was the cause ascertained and direct effort made for cure and eradication."
  • "What the murrain is the matter now — Arc yoir not aQiam*d, wife, to dcficoy things wilfully thus — when thou knoweft how chargeable necefiaries arc Begone Jeremy, and mind the fliop."