noun
a congenital form of anemia occurring mostly in blacks; characterized by abnormal blood cells having a crescent shape
• Syn: ↑sickle-cell anaemia, ↑sickle-cell disease, ↑crescent-cell anemia, ↑crescent-cell anaemia, ↑drepanocytic anemia, ↑drepanocytic anaemia
• Hypernyms: ↑anemia, ↑anaemia, ↑monogenic disorder, ↑monogenic disease
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noun or sickle-cell disease : a chronic familial anemia in which a large proportion or the majority of the red cells in the blood are sickle cells and which occurs mainly in persons of Negro blood
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(US) (or Brit sickle-cell anaemia) noun [noncount]
medical : a serious disease that affects the red blood cells and occurs mostly in people of African, Mediterranean, or southwest Asian ancestry
Useful english dictionary. 2012.