smallpox

IPA/ˈsmɔːlpɒks/
KK[smˈɔlpˌɑks]IPA/ˈsmɔːlpɑːks/

smallpox — noun

1. a serious infectious disease caused by a virus, which makes the body develop a h

1.名詞B2
釋義

a serious infectious disease caused by a virus, which makes the body develop a high temperature and painful blisters filled with liquid on the skin. It was the first and only human disease ever completely eliminated across the world through a global vaccination programme.

例句

Before 1980, millions of people died from smallpox every year across the world.

contract + smallpox for catching the disease

The World Health Organization launched a worldwide vaccination drive to wipe out smallpox forever.

vaccination campaign against + smallpox

同義詞
  • variola

    The medical or scientific name for the smallpox virus; used mainly in clinical or laboratory settings, not in everyday speech.

文法句型

contract + smallpox

vaccinate against + smallpox

用法筆記

Almost always used as an uncountable noun without an article: 'He caught smallpox', not 'a smallpox'. Frequently appears in historical or medical contexts, because the disease no longer exists in the general population.

常見錯誤

❌She got a smallpox when she was a child.
✅She got smallpox when she was a child.
💡smallpox is an uncountable noun and does not take an article.
❌Smallpox and chickenpox are the same illness.
✅Smallpox and chickenpox are different diseases.
💡smallpox is a far more severe illness than chickenpox (水痘); the two are caused by different viruses.