Definition of "spotted fever" [spotted fever]

• Any of various often fatal infectious diseases, such as typhus and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, characterized by skin eruptions and caused by rickettsia that are transmitted by ticks and mites. (noun)
• An epidemic form of cerebrospinal meningitis. (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.