From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishvirusvi‧rus /ˈvaɪərəs $ ˈvaɪrəs/ ●●○ W3 noun 1 [countable, uncountable]HBM a very small living thing that causes infectious illnesses children infected with the Aids virus a virus infection2 [countable]TD a set of instructions secretly put onto a computer or computer program, which can destroy information. When a computer that has a virus makes a connection with another computer, for example by email, the virus can make copies of itself and move to the other computer.3 [countable] a program that sends a large number of annoying messages to many people’s mobile phones in an uncontrolled wayCOLLOCATIONSADJECTIVES/NOUN + virus the AIDS/flu/polio etc virusThey are trying to stop the spread of the flu virus.a deadly/killer virusa killer virus which has already been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of peoplevirulent (=causing many people to become ill)Why was this particular strain of the virus so virulent?verbsa virus causes somethingThe virus causes people to sweat.carry a virus (=have a virus, which you may then give to other people)A nurse at the clinic was found to be carrying the virus.get a virus (also contract a virus formal)He does not know when he contracted the virus.be infected with a virusThousands of people may already be infected with the virus.be exposed to a virusFour workers at the facility, though exposed to the virus, never became ill.transmit/pass on a virus (=pass it from one person or animal to another)The rabies virus is transmitted in saliva when one animal bites another.a virus spreadsThe virus spread throughout the population.phrasesa strain of a virus (=one type of it)Doctors fear that a new strain of the virus will appear.a virus infectionThe fever was caused by a virus infection.
Examples from the Corpus
virus• an anti-virus program• One final, explosive question remains: Why did a virus that was once so rare suddenly burst into a global pandemic?• You cannot get a virus from an email message alone.• There's a virus going around - four people in my office were sick last week.• The disk was accidentally infected with a virus called "Stoned III."• He could be carrying the AIDS virus.• They are the 8 % of the population who have the Aids virus.• the common cold virus• a vaccine which protects against Hepatitis B, a highly infectious virus which is transmitted sexually or by sharing infected needles.• She thinks she picked up some kind of mystery virus while she was on vacation.• A warning has gone out about a new virus that could wipe everything off your hard disk.• To retain Britain's disease-free status, we are told, we should not vaccinate livestock against the virus.• It is a medical problem to attack the virus without attacking the normal cells.• Once a person is infected they may recover naturally or they may become a chronic carrier of the virus.• Computer users from around the world reported that the virus had invaded their systems.• Less than 5 percent seem to tolerate the virus without ever getting sick.• It is estimated that over thirty million people are now infected with the virus.• The virus opened the door for an onslaught of illnesses Pieters lists casually: hepatitis, pneumonia, shingles.• the virus that causes the common coldvirus infection• He is suffering from an ankle injury and a virus infection.• When the disk is found to be free from a virus infection it is given an electronic signature code.• The mechanism responsible for secretion or intracellular retention of pre-S peptides in chronic hepatitis B virus infection is uncertain.• Over half the patients who acquire acute hepatitis C virus infection develop chronic hepatitis.• This rules out the possibility that autoantibodies are merely a consequence of hepatitis C virus infection.• There is at present no reliable marker to determine whether autoimmunity or hepatitis C virus infection is the major disease process.• This resurgence of measles disease underscored the need for new assays to characterize measles virus infections.• But some virus infections can follow another path, other than the acute cycle of replication.From Longman Business Dictionaryvirusvi‧rus /ˈvaɪərəsˈvaɪrəs/ noun [countable]COMPUTING a set of instructions secretly put onto a computer, that can destroy or change information on the computerThe virus had already destroyed data at several US companies. → compare bugOrigin virus (1500-1600) Latin “thick slippery liquid, poison, bad smell” 