anthrax Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun a highly infectious animal disease (especially cattle and sheep); it can be transmitted to people
splenic fever.
noun a disease of humans that is not communicable; caused by infection with Bacillus anthracis followed by septicemia

L., fr. Gr. coal, carbuncle.

(Med.) (a) A carbuncle. (b) A malignant pustule.
(Biol.) A microscopic, bacterial organism (Bacillus anthracis), resembling transparent rods. [See Illust. under Bacillus.]
An infectious disease of cattle and sheep. It is ascribed to the presence of a rod-shaped bacterium (Bacillus anthracis), the spores of which constitute the contagious matter. It may be transmitted to man by inoculation. The spleen becomes greatly enlarged and filled with bacteria. Called also splenic fever.