vaccine
noun
vac·cine
| \ vak-ˈsēn
, ˈvak-ˌsēn\
, ˈvak-ˌsēn\
Definition of vaccine
: a preparation of killed microorganisms, living attenuated organisms, or living fully virulent organisms that is administered to produce or artificially increase immunity to a particular disease
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Examples of vaccine in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Earlier Friday, bills with far-reaching implications for California gig workers and parents seeking to exempt their children from mandatory vaccines cleared a key legislative hurdle. — Dustin Gardiner, SFChronicle.com, "11th-hour deal paves way for bill to end rent gouging in state," 30 Aug. 2019 When vaccine rates plummet, death and disability from measles increases. — Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, "CDC: 'Reasonable chance' US will lose measles elimination status," 28 Aug. 2019 That’s thousands of lives a year saved by one vaccine. — Sabrina Adams, SELF, "I Treat Infants With Whooping Cough in the ICU—Of Course I’m Pro-Vaccine," 26 Aug. 2019 One need not relitigate the case for vaccines here. — Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, "The Message of Measles," 26 Aug. 2019 Measles is described by county health officials as a vaccine-preventable viral illness that's spread through coughing, sneezing and contact with secretions from the nose, mouth, and throat of an infected person. — Chelsea Curtis, azcentral, "Measles exposure suspected from participant at Phoenix hip-hop event, health officials say," 23 Aug. 2019 Pan, a Sacramento Democrat, has authored several bills that limit exemptions for child vaccinations that have made him a target of anti-vaccine activists online and at the capitol, where hundreds have flocked to protest Pan's efforts. — CBS News, "Anti-vaccine activist livestreams himself shoving California lawmaker who wrote vaccination bills," 22 Aug. 2019 The team administered more than 4,000 doses of hepatitis A vaccine to high-risk populations, saving about $26 million in treatment and hospitalization costs, health officials said. — Naseem S. Miller, orlandosentinel.com, "Orlando Health acquires cardiology practice," 22 Aug. 2019 Some innovations, of course, are almost completely positive: anesthesia, electric light, radio, vaccines. — Kentaro Toyama, The Conversation, "Bring on the technology bans!," 19 Aug. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'vaccine.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for vaccine
vaccine
noun
English Language Learners Definition of vaccine
medical
: a substance that is usually injected into a person or animal to protect against a particular disease
See the full definition for vaccine in the English Language Learners Dictionary
vaccine
noun
vac·cine
| \ vak-ˈsēn
, ˈvak-ˌsēn\
, ˈvak-ˌsēn\
Kids Definition of vaccine
: a preparation containing usually killed or weakened microorganisms (as bacteria or viruses) that is given usually by injection to increase protection against a particular disease
vaccine
noun
vac·cine
| \ vak-ˈsēn, ˈvak-ˌ
\
\
Medical Definition of vaccine
1
: matter or a preparation containing the virus of cowpox used to vaccinate a person against smallpox
2
: a preparation of killed microorganisms, living attenuated organisms, or living fully virulent organisms that is administered to produce or artificially increase immunity to a particular disease
chicken pox vaccine
also
: a mixture of several such vaccines
measles-mumps-rubella vaccine
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