Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A painful condition of the lower back, as one resulting from muscle strain or a slipped disk.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To afflict with lumbago.
  • noun In pathology, myalgia in the lumbar region.
  • noun Same as chine-gall.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Med.) A rheumatic pain in the loins and the small of the back.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun pathology Backache of the lumbar region or lower back, which can be caused by muscle strain or a slipped disk.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun backache affecting the lumbar region or lower back; can be caused by muscle strain or arthritis or vascular insufficiency or a ruptured intervertebral disc

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Late Latin lumbāgō, from Latin lumbus, loin.]

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Examples

  • To-morrow we go finally and positively, though the lumbago is almost disappeared, and we were to have stayed at least a fortnight.

    Letters and Memorials of Jane Welsh Carlyle 1883

  • (Only true about 10% of the time.) “My lumbago is acting up.”

    The Comfort Zone | The Stiletto Gang The Stiletto Gang 2008

  • Lower back pain, also referred to as lumbago, may lead to an ache or a pain anywhere in the region between the lower ribs

    Finch and Coulthart’s Finch Cover (Vote!)–Up For Spinetingler Awards 2010

  • He still loved weeding but tired quickly and was frequently discouraged by the aches in his legs and lower back from what his doctor called lumbago.

    Closing Time Joseph Heller 1994

  • First I must ask your indulgence, since for two days I have been upset by an unpolitical enemy called lumbago, an old acquaintance of mine for sixty years.

    The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 10 Prince Otto Von Bismarck, Count Helmuth Von Moltke, Ferdinand Lassalle Kuno Francke 1892

  • Old Haji Wali lost his appetite, complained of indigestion, and clamoured to return home; Ahmed Kaptán suffered from Sulb ( "lumbago") and bad headache; whilst Lieutenant Yusuf was attacked by an ague and fever, which raised the mouth thermometer to 102 degrees -- 103 degrees, calling loudly for aconite.

    The Land of Midian — Volume 1 Richard Francis Burton 1855

  • "Yes -- well, you needn't mind," I says; "'cordin' to common tell, you was born with that same kind of lumbago, and it's been getting no better fast ever since.

    Cape Cod Stories Joseph Crosby Lincoln 1907

  • The 'down' hours, of course, will coincide with the public remembering that the Democrats are still in charge in Washington and are totally responsible for all our problems, including the sovereign-debt crisis in Greece, potential bank failures throughout the Eurozone, drought conditions in the Southwest, and a particularly bad case of lumbago for Miss Viola Comstock of Pokahootchee, Ga.

    Rick Horowitz: Financial Crisis: For the GOP, It's All So E-Z Rick Horowitz 2011

  • The 'down' hours, of course, will coincide with the public remembering that the Democrats are still in charge in Washington and are totally responsible for all our problems, including the sovereign-debt crisis in Greece, potential bank failures throughout the Eurozone, drought conditions in the Southwest, and a particularly bad case of lumbago for Miss Viola Comstock of Pokahootchee, Ga.

    Rick Horowitz: Financial Crisis: For the GOP, It's All So E-Z Rick Horowitz 2011

  • Bloomfield has been grievously afflicted of late with a lumbago which disables him from taking such exercise as his constitution requires.

    Letter 84 2009

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