D defs.my
Entry 1 sense Webster, 1913

Diphtheria

/dĭf-thĭr'-ē-ä/ · Diph·the·ri·a · IPA /dɪfˈθɪɹ.i.ə/
01 n. A very dangerous contagious disease in which the air passages, and especially the throat, become coated with a false membrane, produced by …
  1. 1.
    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.(Med.) See: Group