Spanish flu

[ span-ish floo ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

Pathology.

the pandemic strain of type A influenza that spread throughout the world during 1918–20: it is also referred to as the 1918 flu pandemic or 1918 influenza pandemic .

Discover More

Word History and Origins

First recorded in 1918; so called because wartime censorship in the major belligerent powers, particularly the U.S., Great Britain, Germany, and France, minimized early reports of illness and mortality among themselves but freely reported the effects of the pandemic in neutral Spain, leaving the impression that Spain was very hard hit by this flu

Discover More

Compare Meanings

How does Spanish flu compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

Discover More

Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Popular in the United States during the 1930s and 40s — coincidentally, after the country’s 1920 Spanish Flu epidemic — in reality, post-Prohibition sparked these social clubs where people came to eat, drink and let their hair down.

From

Muldoon died of a heart attack in 1929 in Tacoma at age 41, possibly weakened by his Spanish flu bout from 1919.

From

Everyone knows by now that a virus can bring a nation to its knees — the tiny terrorists of smallpox, Spanish flu and COVID-19 have disrupted America’s story in lethal and tragic ways.

From

From the Athenian plague to the Black Death to the Spanish flu pandemic, these significant outbreaks of diseases have had profound effects on societies and they aren’t going anywhere any time soon.

From

He noted that historical accounts of both the Russian flu and 1918 Spanish flu pandemic show that many people suffered from long-term health effects such as cognitive decline, debilitating fatigue and Parkinson’s disease after infections.

From

Spanish dagger Spanish fly

Browse