Allergy Definition–noun, plural -gies. | 1. | an abnormal reaction of the body to a previously encountered allergen introduced by inhalation, ingestion, injection, or skin contact, often manifested by itchy eyes, runny nose, wheezing, skin rash, or diarrhea. |
| 2. | hypersensitivity to the reintroduction of an allergen. Compare anaphylaxis. |
| 3. | Informal. a strong dislike or aversion, as toward a person or activity: He has an allergy to hard work. |
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From Dictionary
Related topics from Britannicaallergy
hypersensitivity reaction by the body to foreign substances (antigens) that in similar amounts and circumstances are harmless within the bodies of other people.drug allergy
hypersensitivity reaction to therapeutic agents that occasionally occurs on subsequent exposure to a drug against which an individual has already produced antibodies. Some drugs rarely cause allergic ...
poison
Although the immune system generally protects the body, it can respond in certain ways that are detrimental to some individuals. Allergy, or hypersensitivity, is a condition of increased reactivity ...
human disease
The immune system may react to any foreign substance, and consequently it can respond to innocuous materials in the same way that it responds to infectious agents. If the foreign material poses no ...
immune system disorder
The immune system recognizes and responds to almost any foreign molecule; it cannot discern between molecules that are characteristic of potentially infective agents and those that are not. In other ...
nutritional disease
A true food allergy involves an abnormal immunologic response to an otherwise harmless food component, usually a protein. In the case of antibody-mediated (immediate hypersensitivity) food allergies, ...
nutritional disease
Information about food allergies is presented in Jonathan Brostoff and Linda Gamlin, Food Allergies and Food Intolerance: The Complete Guide to Their Identification and Treatment (2000); and Celide ...
hypersensitivity
acquired bodily state in which the reaction to a stimulus (e.g., a substance causing allergy or a physical agent such as light) is unusually prompt or excessive. The term hypersensitivity is often ...
allergen
substance that in some persons induces the hypersensitive state of allergy and stimulates the formation of reaginic antibodies. Allergens may be naturally occurring or of synthetic origin and ...
immune system disorder
any of various failures in the body's defense mechanisms against infectious organisms (see table). Disorders of immunity include immune deficiency diseases, such as AIDS, that arise because of a ...
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