distemper

Word family

dis·tem·per /dɪˈstempə $ -ər/ noun [uncountableU]

1. MIHBAa serious infectious disease that affects animals, especially dogs 瘟热〔主要侵袭狗等动物的一种恶性传染病〕

2. British EnglishBrETBDHH a type of paint that you mix with water to paint walls 〔刷墙用的〕水浆涂料

Examples from the Corpus

distemper• The stairs were barely wider than his shoulders, and there was a smell of old plaster and distemper.• Fosco said WildCare investigators believed pseudo-rabies and distemper might both be involved.• International concern for these extremely rare mammals arose after thousands of grey seals were wiped out by the canine distemper virus.• He died of distemper while I was away at St Aubyn's; the news overwhelmed me with a child's grief.• Read in studio Vets are having to deal with the biggest outbreak of distemper in ten years.• Difficult political decisions should not be left to the snap judgments and popular distemper of public opinion, Hamilton wrote.• Though infected lions can meet a miserable death, Packer reports that 60 percent of those with distemper have survived.• Its yellow distemper had faded to the palest sulphur over the years.

Origin distemper

(1500-1600) Late Latin distemperare “to combine (liquids in the body that affect health) wrongly”

Chinese

Syllable

Corpus

BNC: 26538 COCA: 32495

distemper