FATIGUE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does fatigue mean? 

• FATIGUE (noun)
  The noun FATIGUE has 4 senses:

1. temporary loss of strength and energy resulting from hard physical or mental work

2. used of materials (especially metals) in a weakened state caused by long stress

3. (always used with a modifier) boredom resulting from overexposure to something

4. labor of a nonmilitary kind done by soldiers (cleaning or digging or draining or so on)

  Familiarity information: FATIGUE used as a noun is uncommon.

• FATIGUE (verb)
  The verb FATIGUE has 2 senses:

1. lose interest or become bored with something or somebody

2. exhaust or get tired through overuse or great strain or stress

  Familiarity information: FATIGUE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FATIGUE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Temporary loss of strength and energy resulting from hard physical or mental work

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

fatigue; tiredness; weariness

Context example:

weariness overcame her after twelve hours and she fell asleep

Hypernyms ("fatigue" is a kind of...):

temporary state (a state that continues for a limited time)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fatigue"):

asthenopia; eyestrain (a tiredness of the eyes caused by prolonged close work by a person with an uncorrected vision problem)

jet lag (fatigue and sleep disturbance resulting from disruption of the body's normal circadian rhythm as a result of jet travel)

exhaustion (extreme fatigue)

grogginess (a groggy state resulting from weariness)

logginess; loginess (a dull and listless state resulting from weariness)

Derivation:

fatigue (exhaust or get tired through overuse or great strain or stress)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Used of materials (especially metals) in a weakened state caused by long stress

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Context example:

metal fatigue

Hypernyms ("fatigue" is a kind of...):

failing; weakness (a flaw or weak point)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(always used with a modifier) boredom resulting from overexposure to something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Context example:

political fatigue

Hypernyms ("fatigue" is a kind of...):

boredom; ennui; tedium (the feeling of being bored by something tedious)

Derivation:

fatigue (lose interest or become bored with something or somebody)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Labor of a nonmilitary kind done by soldiers (cleaning or digging or draining or so on)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

fatigue; fatigue duty

Context example:

they were assigned to kitchen fatigues

Hypernyms ("fatigue" is a kind of...):

assignment; duty assignment (a duty that you are assigned to perform (especially in the armed forces))

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

• FATIGUE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they fatigue    ... he / she / it fatigues   
Past simple: fatigued   
Past participle: fatigued   
-ing form: fatiguing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Lose interest or become bored with something or somebody

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

fatigue; jade; pall; tire; weary

Context example:

I'm so tired of your mother and her complaints about my food

Hypernyms (to "fatigue" is one way to...):

degenerate; deteriorate; devolve; drop (grow worse)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fatigue"):

conk out; peter out; poop out; run down; run out (use up all one's strength and energy and stop working)

retire; withdraw (lose interest)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

fatigue ((always used with a modifier) boredom resulting from overexposure to something)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Exhaust or get tired through overuse or great strain or stress

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

fag; fag out; fatigue; jade; outwear; tire; tire out; wear; wear down; wear out; wear upon; weary

Context example:

We wore ourselves out on this hike

Hypernyms (to "fatigue" is one way to...):

indispose (cause to feel unwell)

Cause:

fatigue; jade; pall; tire; weary (lose interest or become bored with something or somebody)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fatigue"):

beat; exhaust; tucker; tucker out; wash up (wear out completely)

overfatigue; overtire; overweary (tire excessively)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

Sam cannot fatigue Sue

Derivation:

fatigue (temporary loss of strength and energy resulting from hard physical or mental work)

 Context examples 

In all this long pursuit, I never heard him repine; I never heard him say he was fatigued, or out of heart.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Patients usually present with fatigue, weight loss, anemia, night sweats, and splenomegaly.

(Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia, BCR-ABL1 Positive, NCI Thesaurus)

“Absolute exhaustion—possibly mere hunger and fatigue,” said I, with my finger on the thready pulse, where the stream of life trickled thin and small.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into any little problem which you may submit to me.”

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This morning I slept late after the fatigues of yesterday, and though Jonathan was late too, he was the earlier.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

A drug that is being studied as a treatment for fatigue in patients with cancer.

(Modafinil, NCI Dictionary)

His tall, gaunt, stringy figure is insensible to fatigue, and his dry, half-sarcastic, and often wholly unsympathetic manner is uninfluenced by any change in his surroundings.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

At other times, they can cause lung symptoms similar to tuberculosis: • Cough • Weight loss • Coughing up blood or mucus • Weakness or fatigue • Fever and chills • Night sweats • Lack of appetite and weight loss

(Mycobacterial Infections, NIH)

Fast fatigable fibers, also called white fibers, have a low myoglobin content, and a small mitochondrial content, and fatigue rapidly due to their limited glycogen content and low capacity for oxidative metabolism.

(Muscle Fibers, Fast-Twitch, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

A mental disorder characterized by chronic fatigue and concomitant physiologic symptoms.

(Nervous Debility, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)