mountain sickness

American  

noun

Pathology.

1. altitude sickness.

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mountain sickness British  

noun

1. Also called: altitude sickness.  nausea, headache, and shortness of breath caused by climbing to high altitudes (usually above 12 000 ft)

2. vet science a disease of cattle kept at high altitude in S and N America, characterized by congestive heart failure

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Etymology

Origin of mountain sickness

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

In his defence, US Navy doctors said he had been suffering from acute mountain sickness at the time of the accident.

From BBC • Feb. 17, 2024

The judge said it was hard to believe that Lieutenant Alkonis had suddenly fallen unconscious because of mountain sickness, in part because he had driven to a lower elevation before the accident.

From New York Times • Feb. 21, 2023

The judge said that though it was conceivable Alkonis was suffering from light mountain sickness, it was difficult to imagine he went from not feeling drowsy at all to becoming suddenly incapacitated.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 5, 2022

The symptoms of acute mountain sickness include headache, nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, loss of appetite, and flulike malaise, and they can all occur without any physical exertion.

From Slate • Feb. 26, 2018

We did not suffer from puna, or mountain sickness, which Bishop Sprat, of Rochester, mentions in 1650, and which Mr. Darwin—alas that we must write the late!—cured by botanising.

From To the Gold Coast for Gold A Personal Narrative in Two Volumes.—Volume I by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir