calentures
/kəˈlɛntʃərz/
noun
- A tropical fever or illness once believed to be caused by the heat of the sun, often associated with delirium and a delusion that the sea is green and inviting.
- Sailors suffering from calentures would sometimes jump overboard, thinking the water was a lush green field.
- The ship's doctor recognized the symptoms of calentures and ordered the patient to be kept in the shade.
- In old medical texts, calentures was described as a dangerous fever that struck those exposed to extreme tropical heat.
- A figurative fever or intense, irrational desire, especially for something distant or unattainable.
- He was seized by a calentures for adventure, dreaming of far-off lands he had never seen.
- Her calentures for the sea grew stronger with every story she heard about ocean voyages.
- The young artist felt a calentures for fame that drove her to work day and night.