\Chol"er*a\, n. [L., a bilious disease. See {Choler}.]
(Med.)
One of several diseases affecting the digestive and
intestinal tract and more or less dangerous to life, esp. the
one commonly called Asiatic cholera.
{Asiatic cholera}, a malignant and rapidly fatal disease,
   originating in Asia and frequently epidemic in the more
   filthy sections of other lands, to which the germ or
   specific poison may have been carried. It is characterized
   by diarrhea, rice-water evacuations, vomiting, cramps,
   pinched expression, and lividity, rapidly passing into a
   state of collapse, followed by death, or by a stage of
   reaction of fever.
{Cholera bacillus}. See {Comma bacillus}.
{Cholera infantum}, a dangerous summer disease, of infants,
   caused by hot weather, bad air, or poor milk, and
   especially fatal in large cities.
{Cholera morbus}, a disease characterized by vomiting and
   purging, with gripings and cramps, usually caused by
   imprudence in diet or by gastrointestinal disturbance.
{Chicken cholera}. See under {Chicken}.
{Hog cholera}. See under {Hog}.
{Sporadic cholera}, a disease somewhat resembling the Asiatic
   cholera, but originating where it occurs, and rarely
   becoming epidemic.