vax

Noun

vaccine (countable and uncountable, plural vaccines)

1. A substance given to stimulate a body's production of antibodies and provide immunity against a disease without causing the disease itself in the treatment, prepared from the agent that causes the disease (or a derivative of it; or a related, also effective, but safer disease), or a synthetic substitute; also, a dose of such a substance.
   • I am much inclined to the vaccine. My friend, Mr. L—, has had all his children vaccined, and I just wait to see the effect.1804, Maria Edgeworth, “To-morrow. Chapter VII. Moral Habits Seldom Changed by Change of Fortune.”, in Popular Tales, volume III, London: Printed for J[oseph] Johnson, […], [b]y C. Mercier and Co....
2. The process of vaccination; immunization, inoculation.
   • My dog has had two vaccines this year.
3. (historical) The material taken from cowpox pustules used for vaccination against smallpox.
4. (also, obsolete) The disease cowpox, especially as a source of material for vaccination against smallpox.
5. (figuratively) Something defensive or protective in nature, like a vaccine (sense 1.1).
6. (figuratively) A software program which protects computers against, or detects and neutralizes, computer viruses and other types of malware; an antivirus.

See all 10 meanings of vaccine

Noun

vaccination (countable and uncountable, plural vaccinations)

1. Inoculation with a vaccine, in order to protect from a particular disease or strain of disease.
   • Near-synonym: immunization (broadly synonymous)

   Synonyms:

   immunization[Appendix:Glossary