fever

fever — noun

1. a condition in which your body becomes hotter than its normal healthy level, oft

1.nounA2
Definition

a condition in which your body becomes hotter than its normal healthy level, often because you are fighting an infection.

Example

Linh woke up with a high fever and stayed home from school.

collocation: high fever

The doctor told Lakshmi to rest and drink water until her fever went down.

fever + go down / come down

Common collocations
  • high fever
  • low-grade fever
  • mild fever
  • run a fever
  • break a fever
  • fever comes down
Synonyms
  • temperature

    everyday term for body heat measurement; 'have a temperature' is common in British English

  • pyrexia

    clinical medical term; used in hospital records but rare in everyday speech

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

have/get/run + a fever

fever + breaks/goes down/comes down/rises

Usage Note

In everyday British English, people more often say 'have a temperature' for mild cases. 'Have a fever' is the standard term in American English and in medical contexts. Countable in phrases like 'a fever of 39 degrees'; uncountable in general statements like 'Fever is a common symptom.'

Common Mistakes

I have fever.
I have **a** fever.
When referring to a specific episode, 'fever' needs an article.
My fever is 39 degrees.
My temperature is 39 degrees.
'Fever' is the condition; 'temperature' is the measurement.

2. an excited or intensely interested mood that many people share for a short perio

2.nounB2
Definition

an excited or intensely interested mood that many people share for a short period, such as during an important sports event or an election.

Example

Football fever swept across the city when the local team reached the finals.

noun + fever phrase: football fever

The whole island was caught up in election fever as voting day drew near.

be caught up in + noun fever

Common collocations
  • football fever
  • election fever
  • gold fever
  • carnival fever
  • a fever of excitement
  • a fever of anticipation
Synonyms
  • frenzy

    more intense and uncontrolled, often with panic or chaotic behaviour

  • craze

    short-lived, focused on a specific object or activity, e.g. a dance craze

  • mania

    more extreme, suggesting obsessive or almost irrational enthusiasm

Antonyms
  • calm

    a state free from excitement or agitation

  • indifference

    lack of interest or concern about something

Grammar Patterns

[noun] + fever: election fever / football fever / carnival fever

a fever of + emotion noun: a fever of excitement / anticipation

Usage Note

Often appears in compound noun phrases such as 'cabin fever', 'gold fever', or 'spring fever', where the word describes a temporary, shared emotional state rather than a medical condition.

Common Mistakes

He has election fevered.
He has election fever.
No -ed ending; 'fever' here is a noun, not a verb.
The crowd was in a fever of excitemently.
The crowd was in a fever of excitement.
Use the noun 'excitement', not the adverb.
Idioms

cabin fever

idiom

a feeling of boredom, restlessness, or irritation that comes from staying indoors for a long time without enough to do.

After three weeks of rain, the children had cabin fever and argued all day.

Many office workers get cabin fever during long, cold winters with little sunlight.

gold fever

idiom

a strong, often unreasonable desire to find gold, which spreads quickly among people and makes them act without careful thought.

Gold fever took over the town after the discovery of a rich mine nearby.

spring fever

idiom

a feeling of restlessness, laziness, or a desire to be outdoors when the weather becomes warmer after winter.

As the weather warmed up, the students caught spring fever and could not focus in class.

fever — verb

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Fever' and 'temperature' are everyday words, but they are not interchangeable. 'Fever' names the medical condition itself — the state of having a raised body temperature as a sign of illness. 'Temperature', in everyday usage, usually refers to the measurement: 'The nurse took my temperature' means she measured it with a thermometer. However, when a British speaker says 'She has a temperature', they mean exactly what an American speaker means by 'She has a fever'. 'Pyrexia' is the clinical medical term; a doctor might write 'pyrexia of unknown origin' in a patient's chart but would rarely say it to the patient. So: parents check a child's temperature at home, take her to the doctor if she has a fever, and the doctor's notes may read 'pyrexia 38.5°C'.

fever ↗temperature ↗pyrexia

Common collocations

Nouns

  • fever patient
  • fever symptoms
  • fever temperature
  • fever medication

Adverbs

  • slightly feverish (adj)
  • mildly feverish (adj)
  • dangerously high fever
  • suddenly developed a fever

Phrases

  • run a fever
  • have a fever
  • come down with a fever
  • break a fever
  • bring down a fever
  • go down with a fever

Prepositions

  • fever of (excitement)
  • fever with (chills)
  • in a fever

Etymology

LatinOld EnglishMiddle EnglishModern English

The word 'fever' entered English from Old English 'fefer', which was borrowed from Latin 'febris', meaning 'fever'. The Latin root may be related to 'fovere' (to warm or heat). The medical sense — a rise in body temperature due to illness — has been the core meaning since the word entered English. The figurative sense, describing a state of intense excitement or activity, appeared in the early 17th century and has since developed into common compounds such as 'cabin fever' and 'gold fever'.