See Also: Acute(health)
Acute(medicine)
acute(dictionary)
acute(dictionary)
acute goiter(medicine)
acute glaucoma(medicine)
Acute abdomen(health)
Acute epiglottitis(health)
Acute illness(health)
Acute leukemia(health)

acute (iou)



acute adjective, noun, & verb. LME.
[Latin acutus pa. pple of acuere sharpen, from acus needle.]
A. adjective.
Medicine. Of a disease, symptoms of disease: of short duration (and usu. severe). Cf. CHRONIC adjective 1. LME.
b. Of a medical facility: designed or reserved for the treatment of acute illness. M20.
c. fig. Of controversy, difficulty, shortage, etc.: critical, serious. M20.
a. Of an angle: less than a right angle. M16.
b. Sharp at the end; coming to a point. L16.
Of a sound: shrill, high (Phonetics as a classificatory feature, opp. grave). M16.
acute accent the mark &nfacu; placed over letters in some languages to show quality, vowel length, pronunciation, etc.
Of the intellect: penetrating, sharp-witted, shrewd. Cf. CUTE adjective1. L16.
Of tastes or odours: sharp, pungent. E-M17.
Of pain, pleasure, etc.: keen, intense. M17.
Of the senses, the nervous system: responsive or sensitive to impressions; finely-strung. M18.
Comb.: acute-angled adjective having an acute angle or angles.
b. noun. An acute illness, tone, etc.; esp. an acute accent. LME.
C. verb trans. Sharpen; mark with an acute accent. Chiefly as acuted ppl adjective M17-L18.
acutely adverb L16.
acuteness noun E17.