scurvy
/ˈskəːvi
/noun [mass noun]
A disease caused by a deficiency of vitamin C, characterized by swollen bleeding gums and the opening of previously healed wounds, which particularly affected poorly nourished sailors until the end of the 18th century: the ravages of scurvy [as modifier]: the curative effects on scurvy victims...
- So it's a little bit different to the sort of classic nutritional deficiency diseases, like scurvy, it seems to be slightly more complicated than that.
- Ascorbic acid/vitamin C. Prolonged deficiency can result in scurvy, poor wound healing and bleeding gums.
- Modern medicine categorizes diarrhea as a symptom of a disease, such as scurvy, typhoid, malaria, and dysentery, or as a symptom of indigestible substances in the intestines.
adjective (scurvier, scurviest) archaic
Worthless or contemptible: that was a scurvy trick...
- Even scurvy land lubbers can talk like a pirate an’ not be called a stinkin’ bilge rat.
- Call me by that scurvy name one more time, and ye'll be walking the plank, I swear it!
- And finally, there do be help available for ye landlubbers and scurvy dogs who can't talk like Pirates.
Derivatives
scurvily
- I doubt if that will work and I reiterate that the Pakistanis feel scurvily treated with a shorter than short series.
scurvied
Origin
Late Middle English (as an adjective meaning 'scurfy'): from scurf + -y1. The noun use (mid 16th century) is by association with French scorbut (see scorbutic).
Rhymes
- voice level
- voicemail
- voice mailbox
- voicemail box
- voice memo
- voice message
- voice messaging
- voice-music
- Voice of America
- voice onset time
- voice-operated
- voice-over
- voice part
- voice pattern
- voice pipe
- voiceprint
- voiceprinter
- voiceprinting
- voicer
- voice radio
- voice recognition
- voice recognition technology
- voice recorder
- voicespond
- voicespondence