What is "hydrophobia"

Hydrophobia \Hy`dro*pho"bi*a\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ?; "y`dwr water + ? fear: cf. F. hydrophobie.] (Med.)

1. An abnormal dread of water, said to be a symptom of canine madness; hence:

2. A viral disease trransmitted by a bite from, or inoculation with the saliva of, a rabid creature, of which the chief symptoms are, a sense of dryness and constriction in the throat, causing difficulty in deglutition, and a marked heightening of reflex excitability, producing convulsions whenever the patient attempts to swallow, or is disturbed in any way, as by the sight or sound of water; rabies; canine madness.

late 14c., idroforbia, a symptom of rabies in man (sometimes used for the disease itself), from Late Latin hydrophobia (Celsius, 50 C.E.), from Greek hydrophobos "dreading water," from hydr-, stem of hydor "water" (see water (n.1)) + phobos "dread, fear" (see phobia). So called because human sufferers show aversion to water and have difficulty swallowing it. In Old English as wæterfyrhtness.

n. 1 (context pathology English) An aversion to water, as a symptom of rabies; rabies itself. 2 (context psychology colloquial English) fear of water

1. n. a symptom of rabies in humans consisting of an aversion to swallowing liquids

2. a morbid fear of water

3. an acute viral disease of the nervous system of warm-blooded animals (usually transmitted by the bite of a rabid animal); rabies is fatal if the virus reaches the brain [syn: rabies, lyssa, madness]

Hydrophobia or hydrophobe may refer to:

Hydrophobia is a survival- adventure video game developed and published by Dark Energy Digital for Microsoft Windows, the PlayStation 3 and by Microsoft Studios for Xbox Live Arcade. The game was released for Xbox Live Arcade on September 29, 2010, as part of Xbox Live's 'Games Feast' promotion, marking the first of three episodes. The PC version was released on May 9, 2011. The PlayStation 3 version was released on November 1, 2011 in North America and November 2, 2011 in Europe.

The game's engine, HydroEngine, provides realistic fluid dynamics technology for flowing water, allowing it to interact with the surroundings. The levels in the game were designed using InfiniteWorlds; a game creation system which uses bespoke procedural technology to significantly reduce file sizes, decreasing the overall file size of the game.

Hydrophobia was met with a mixed reception, with an aggregate score of 59/100 on Metacritic and 61.43% at GameRankings. Reviews have been polarized, ranging from a 20% approval to 90%. Reviewers generally praised the game's dynamic water system, but felt the game was too short and repetitive. The developers released a title update on December 21, 2010 addressing the complaints from feedback and reviews.