Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Occurring suddenly, rapidly, and with great severity or intensity.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Lightening and thundering; making a great stir.
  • In pathology, developing suddenly: as, fulminant plague.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective rare Thundering; fulminating.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective exploding or detonating
  • adjective pathology Occurring suddenly, rapidly, and with great severity or intensity

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective sudden and severe

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin fulmināns, fulminant-, present participle of fulmināre, to strike with lightning; see fulminate.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin fulminare, to strike like lightning

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Examples

  • In this condition, called fulminant hepatitis B, a liver transplant is the only treatment of merit.

    DR. SANJIV CHOPRA’S LIVER BOOK Sanjiv Chopra 2001

  • We also have the sadly familiar type described as the fulminant or, literally, "lightning-stroke" variety.

    Preventable Diseases Woods Hutchinson 1896

  • That showed the death rate for patients with a type of infection called fulminant C.difficile colitis was 75 percent.

    FOXNews.com 2011

  • However, Katie developed a full-blown version known as fulminant infectious mononucleosis (FIM).

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2010

  • However, Katie developed a full-blown version known as fulminant infectious mononucleosis (FIM).

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2010

  • According to hospital representatives, tests at Holtz showed that the baby had neonatal giant cell hepatitis, which led to what doctors call fulminant liver failure.

    Just News - Local News 2009

  • Jacob was immediately transferred to the Children's Hospital Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), where doctors diagnosed him with fulminant hepatic failure — liver failure with a very rapid onset.

    Meet Our Patients: Jacob Jowett 2010

  • "As with all fulminant cases, this happened so fast," remembers transplant coordinator Cathy Goodsell.

    Meet Our Patients: Jacob Jowett 2010

  • Clinical stabilization and effective B-lymphocyte depletion in the cerebrospinal fluid and peripheral blood of a patient with fulminant relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

    The Autoimmune Epidemic Donna Jackson Nakazawa 2008

  • Clinical stabilization and effective B-lymphocyte depletion in the cerebrospinal fluid and peripheral blood of a patient with fulminant relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

    The Autoimmune Epidemic Donna Jackson Nakazawa 2008

Comments

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  • Unfortunately, one almost always sees this word immediately followed by the word "hepatitis".

    October 6, 2007

  • A bull fight’s a basically cruel event,

    Provoking a harmless great ruminant

    By pain and affronts

    And daredevil stunts

    To actions soon fatally fulminant.

    September 25, 2018