a large number of cases of a particular disease or medical condition happening at the same time in a particular community 流行病 the outbreak of a flu epidemic 流感的爆发 An epidemic of measles broke out, and over 200 children died. 麻疹爆发导致200多名儿童死亡。 Effectively, tobacco companies will be exporting an epidemic of smoking-related diseases, the campaign suggests. 该运动表明，实际上，烟草公司将输出一种与吸烟相关的流行病。
Extra ExamplesTopics Illnessc1Over fifty people died during the flu epidemic last winter. 在去年冬天的一场流感中有 50 多人丧生。 The worst flu epidemic for 14 years is sweeping the country. 14年来最严重的流感疫情正在席卷全国。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- major
- global
- national
- …
- become
- combat
- fight
- …
- break out
- occur
- strike (something)
- …
- during an/the epidemic
- in an/the epidemic
- epidemic of
- …
- reach epidemic proportions
a sudden rapid increase in how often something bad happens （坏事迅速的）泛滥，蔓延 A recent report describes an epidemic of crime in the inner cities. 最近的一份报告描述了市中心的犯罪流行情况。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- major
- global
- national
- …
- become
- combat
- fight
- …
- break out
- occur
- strike (something)
- …
- during an/the epidemic
- in an/the epidemic
- epidemic of
- …
- reach epidemic proportions
Word Originearly 17th cent. (as an adjective): from French épidémique, from épidémie, via late Latin from Greek epidēmia ‘prevalence of disease’, from epidēmios ‘prevalent’, from epi ‘upon’ + dēmos ‘the people’.