1. An infectious disease of human beings and animals caused by the tubercle bacillus
and characterized by the formation of tubercles on
the lungs and other tissues of the body, often developing long after the initial
infection.
2. Tuberculosis of the lungs, characterized by the coughing up of mucus
and sputum, fever, weight loss, and chest pain.
Excerpted from The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third
Edition Copyright © 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version
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