What does "pox" mean?
Pox: Strictly, a disease by pustules or eruptions of any kind, but chiefly or wholly restricted to three or four diseases, -- the smallpox, the chicken pox, and the vaccine and the venereal diseases. Note: Pox, when used without an epithet, as in imprecations, formerly signified smallpox; but it now signifies syphilis.
Additional senses
- 2.To infect with the pox, or syphilis.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00