Definition of "rheumatic fever" []

• An acute inflammatory disease occurring during recovery from infection with a strain of streptococcus bacteria, having an onset marked by fever and joint pain and frequently resulting in scarring of the heart valves. (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.

• "So, he went to our local Dr. McCall, who listened to Daddy’s chest and finally said, “Earl, I think you must have had rheumatic fever as a child and, as a result, you’ve got a bad heart valve.”"