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Contagious   /kəntˈeɪdʒəs/   Listen
adjective
Contagious  adj.  
1.
(Med.) Communicable by contact, by a virus, or by a bodily exhalation; catching; as, a contagious disease.
2.
Conveying or generating disease; pestilential; poisonous; as, contagious air.
3.
Spreading or communicable from one to another; exciting similar emotions or conduct in others. "His genius rendered his courage more contagious." "The spirit of imitation is contagious."
Synonyms: Contagious, Infectious. Although often used as synonyms, originally these words were used in very diverse senses; but, in general, a contagious disease has been considered as one which is caught from another by some near contact, by the breath, by bodily effluvia, etc.; while an infectious disease supposed some entirely different cause acting by a hidden influence, like the miasma of prison ships, of marshes, etc., infecting the system with disease. In either case, a pathogenic microorganism is the direct cause of the disease. This distinction, though not universally admitted by medical men, as to the literal meaning of the words, certainly applies to them in their figurative use. Thus we speak of the contagious influence of evil associates; their contagion of bad example, the contagion of fear, etc., when we refer to transmission by proximity or contact. On the other hand, we speak of infection by bad principles, etc., when we consider anything as diffused by some hidden influence.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Contagious" Quotes from Famous Books



... fashion. Her book was always at hand. By and by they classified each specimen, and the best of their kind were taken to shelves in the sitting-room. Her own enthusiasm in study was aroused, and, far from a hardship, it now became a delight. Her spirit was contagious. The boys, always fond of "mother," wondered what new life possessed her; but they accepted the change all the same. She found that she could teach, and also could inspire her pupils. They heard of a gully, five or six miles away, where ...
— Brave Men and Women - Their Struggles, Failures, And Triumphs • O.E. Fuller

... this malady, whether it be contagious, i.e. communicated by touch; or infectious, that is, communicated by breathing the same air; or hereditary; it is quite certain that it was greatly aggravated by the habits of the time. Bad food, uncleanly habits, bad air, all contributed to the spread of leprosy. Especially it has ...
— The History of London • Walter Besant

... was hastened by the unscrupulous denunciations of Mallet, who was pensioned in consequence.] Orator Henley took some pains, on the first appearance of this catching title, to assure his friends that it did not refer to him. The title proved contagious; which shows the abuse of Warburton was very agreeable. Dr. Z. Grey, under the title of "A Country Curate," published "A Free and Familiar Letter to the Great Refiner of Pope and Shakspeare," 1750; and in 1753, young Cibber ...
— Calamities and Quarrels of Authors • Isaac D'Israeli

... does it first, and does it best,—does it in the most human, attractive and contagious way will find a hundred million people handing over to it the power and the leadership ...
— The Ghost in the White House • Gerald Stanley Lee

... them from Joppa. Arriving in Italy he presented the documents to the pope, Urban II, a pupil and protege of Gregory VII, urging his holiness to use his authority, as the head of Christendom, to set in motion a scheme for regaining the birthplace of Christ. Enthusiasm is contagious, and the pope appears to have caught it instantly from one whose zeal was so unbounded. Giving the Hermit full powers, he sent him abroad to preach the holy war. Peter departed, going from town to town, and from village to village, and, in the language of the chroniclers, ...
— Ten Great Events in History • James Johonnot


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