breakbone
A vivid informal term most commonly heard as 'breakbone fever' — a colloquial name for dengue fever, so called because the intense joint and muscle pain it causes feels like your bones are being broken from the inside.
Definitions
A vivid informal term most commonly heard as 'breakbone fever' — a colloquial name for dengue fever, so called because the intense joint and muscle pain it causes feels like your bones are being broken from the inside. The name captures exactly how brutal dengue can be. In its standalone form, 'breakbone' functions as a descriptor for something violent or rough. It also pops up in American dialect as a name for a chicken's wishbone. The dengue meaning is by far the most commonly encountered today.
Travellers returning from tropical regions sometimes come back with breakbone fever, and the name is not even slightly an exaggeration.
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Violent; rough and painful.
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(US, _, dialect, countable) A chicken's wishbone.
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(disease, uncountable) Breakbone fever.
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