food poisoning

noun

1. an acute gastrointestinal condition characterized by such symptoms as headache, fever, chills, abdominal and muscular pain, nausea, diarrhea, and prostration, caused by foods that are naturally toxic, as poisonous mushrooms, by vegetable foods that are chemically contaminated, as by insecticides, or by bacteria or their toxins, especially of the genus Salmonella.

food poisoning

noun

1. an acute illness typically characterized by gastrointestinal inflammation, vomiting, and diarrhoea, caused by food that is either naturally poisonous or contaminated by pathogenic bacteria (esp Salmonella )

food poisoning

1. An acute gastrointestinal disorder characterized by vomiting and diarrhea, caused by eating food contaminated with bacteria, usually of the genus Salmonella or the genus Staphylococcus , which produces a toxin.

food poisoning

1. Illnesses that arise from eating food contaminated with pathogenic or toxic ( see toxins ) substances. Characterized by vomiting and diarrhea , food poisoning is often caused by bacteria , such as salmonella or staphylococci . ( See botulism .)

Word History and Origins

Origin of food poisoning¹

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

Owning and using a good quality meat thermometer can help save your family and friends from getting sick from food poisoning.

From Popular-Science

There’s also food poisoning, start line transportation snafus, or finding yourself tenth in line at the port-o-potty minutes before the start and having to weigh your options.

From Outside Online

While the burgeoning use of FMT may seem like a wonder of modern medicine, the practice reportedly dates back to ancient China, where “yellow soup” was used to treat cases of severe food poisoning and diarrhea.

From Time

Still, none involved salmonella, the second-most common cause of food poisoning.

From Popular-Science

Maybe it’s that our collective imagination is more likely to associate fish with food poisoning, even though any fish served at a fast food restaurant was probably frozen soon after it was caught.

From Eater

I started wondering how I was going to get out of this meal in order to avoid chronic food poisoning.

From The Daily Beast

The jaw-droppingly graphic dress shop food-poisoning scene underwent similar retooling.

From The Daily Beast

"In the dress shop scene, it's not just about girls getting food poisoning," say Feig.

From The Daily Beast

Somewhere between 80 and 90 percent of food-poisoning cases come from food prepared and eaten at home.

From The Daily Beast

Cruz barely recovered from a bout of food poisoning to soldier through her PR paces Tuesday.

From The Daily Beast

This is the most common form of food poisoning known in this country.

From Project Gutenberg

The danger of arresting the elimination of the poison in all cases of food poisoning can not be too emphatically condemned.

From Project Gutenberg

Very indirect and imperfect indications of the prevalence of certain kinds of food poisoning are afforded by casual press reports.

From Project Gutenberg

Possibly certain definitely characterized skin diseases are due to this form of food poisoning.

From Project Gutenberg

Many cases of so-called food poisoning are due to the presence of pathogenic bacteria in the food.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• botulism
• salmonella