Meanings
nounship fever (uncountable)
alternative ship-fever
- uncountableA form of typhus fever.
"No fear of scurvy or ship fever this voyage. What with the ship's surgeon and this other doctor, our only danger will be from drug or pill."
1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 21, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLCSynonyms: hospital fever, jail fever, putrid fever
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA form of typhus fever.
Also see
Origin
It was once common in the crowded conditions on ships.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
ship fever. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ship%20fever
MLA
“ship fever.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ship%20fever. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ship fever,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ship%20fever.
Source: ship fever on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.