catarrh

plural catarrhs

1. Inflammation of a mucous membrane.
   1. countableuncountablemedicineEspecially, that of the nose and throat.

      Jonah mixed him a pitch-like potion of gin and molasses, which he swore was a sovereign cure for all colds and catarrhs whatsoever […]

      1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter III, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC

      2 more examples

      And then as to your ſcurvys, and gouts, rheumatiſms, conſumptions, coughs and catarrhs, tar-vvater and turpentine vvill make you as ſound as a roach.

      1763 June 20 (first performance), Samuel Foote, The Mayor of Garret. A Comedy, […], London: […] P[aul] Vaillant, […], published 1764, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 4

      "Where I went wrong," he said, still speaking in that low, husky voice as if he had been a ghost suffering from catarrh, "was in getting engaged to Phyllis Mills."

      1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC

      Synonyms: coryza

   2. countableuncountablemedicineThe discharge (fluid) associated with this condition.

      He coughed violently and spat out the catarrh irritating his throat.

   3. broadlycountablemetonymicallyuncountablemedicineRhinitis or rhinosinusitis; cold or coldlike illness; common cold.

      1 more example

      [...] the wrinkled little old Jonah, there officiating, soon poured them out brimmers all round. One complained of a bad cold in his head, upon which Jonah mixed him a pitch-like potion of gin and molasses, which he swore was a sovereign cure for all colds and catarrhs whatsoever, never mind of how long standing, or whether caught off the coast of Labrador, or on the weather side of an ice-island.

      1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “chapter 3”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC