Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Boredom, restlessness, or irritability that results from a lack of environmental stimulation, as from a prolonged stay in a remote, sparsely populated region or a confined indoor area.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun psychology A condition that produces
restlessness andirritability caused from being in aconfined space.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word cabin fever.
Examples
Sorry, no example sentences found.
treeseed commented on the word cabin fever
Cabin fever is a condition that produces restlessness and irritability caused from being in a confined space. The actual term is slang for a claustrophobic reaction that takes place when a party is isolated and/or shut in, alone or together, for an extended period.
The term possibly originated in the United States at the time when settlers would be snowed into their log cabins and had to wait for the spring thaw in order to travel to town. Another possible source for this phrase could be that during an outbreak of some disease, people who had a fever were confined to a cabin as a quarantine. Most likely, the phrase may be associated with ocean-crossing sailing ships in which passengers had to endure weeks and months of slow travel while living in cramped cabins below deck.
_Wikipedia
February 9, 2008
strev commented on the word cabin fever
cooped up
April 20, 2009
hernesheir commented on the word cabin fever
cf. space-hunger
January 8, 2013