Mea"sles (?), n. [From lst
Measle.] Leprosy; also, a leper. [Obs.]
Mea"sles, n.; pl. in form, but
used as singular in senses 1, 2, & 3. [D. mazelen; akin
to G. masern, pl., and E. mazer, and orig. meaning,
little spots. See Mazer.]
1. (Med.) A contagious febrile
disorder commencing with catarrhal symptoms, and marked by the
appearance on the third day of an eruption of distinct red circular
spots, which coalesce in a crescentic form, are slightly raised above
the surface, and after the fourth day of the eruption gradually
decline; rubeola.
Measles commences with the ordinary symptoms of
fever.
Am. Cyc.
2. (Veter. Med.) A disease of cattle
and swine in which the flesh is filled with the embryos of different
varieties of the tapeworm.
3. A disease of trees. [Obs.]
4. pl. (Zoöl.) The
larvæ of any tapeworm (Tænia) in the cysticerus
stage, when contained in meat. Called also bladder
worms.
