Diphtheria

diphtheria
    n 1: acute contagious infection caused by the bacterium
         Corynebacterium diphtheriae; marked by the formation of a
         false membrane in the throat and other air passages causing
         difficulty in breathing
    

Diphtheria \Diph*the"ri*a\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. ? leather (hence
   taken in the sense of membrane): cf. ? to make soft, L.
   depsere to knead.] (Med.)
   A very dangerous contagious disease in which the air
   passages, and especially the throat, become coated with a
   false membrane, produced by the solidification of an
   inflammatory exudation. Cf. {Group}. Diphtherial
    

127 Moby Thesaurus words for "diphtheria":
      African lethargy, Asiatic cholera, Chagres fever, German measles,
      Haverhill fever, acute articular rheumatism, ague, alkali disease,
      amebiasis, amebic dysentery, anthrax, bacillary dysentery,
      bastard measles, black death, black fever, blackwater fever,
      breakbone fever, brucellosis, bubonic plague, cachectic fever,
      cerebral rheumatism, chicken pox, cholera, cowpox, dandy fever,
      deer fly fever, dengue, dengue fever, dumdum fever, dysentery,
      elephantiasis, encephalitis lethargica, enteric fever, erysipelas,
      famine fever, five-day fever, flu, frambesia, glandular fever,
      grippe, hansenosis, hepatitis, herpes, herpes simplex,
      herpes zoster, histoplasmosis, hookworm, hydrophobia,
      infantile paralysis, infectious mononucleosis,
      inflammatory rheumatism, influenza, jail fever, jungle rot,
      kala azar, kissing disease, lepra, leprosy, leptospirosis, loa loa,
      loaiasis, lockjaw, madness, malaria, malarial fever, marsh fever,
      measles, meningitis, milzbrand, mumps, ornithosis, osteomyelitis,
      paratyphoid fever, parotitis, parrot fever, pertussis, pneumonia,
      polio, poliomyelitis, polyarthritis rheumatism, ponos, psittacosis,
      rabbit fever, rabies, rat-bite fever, relapsing fever,
      rheumatic fever, rickettsialpox, ringworm, rubella, rubeola,
      scarlatina, scarlet fever, schistosomiasis, septic sore throat,
      shingles, sleeping sickness, sleepy sickness, smallpox,
      snail fever, splenic fever, spotted fever, strep throat,
      swamp fever, tetanus, thrush, tinea, trench fever, trench mouth,
      tuberculosis, tularemia, typhoid, typhoid fever, typhus,
      typhus fever, undulant fever, vaccinia, varicella, variola,
      venereal disease, viral dysentery, whooping cough, yaws,
      yellow fever, yellow jack, zona, zoster