[f. CROUP v.1, lit. a hoarse croaking.]
1. An inflammatory disease of the larynx and trachea of children, marked by a peculiar sharp ringing cough, and frequently proving fatal in a short time.
Croup was the popular name in the south-east of Scotland, and was introduced into medical use by Prof. Francis Home of Edinburgh in 1765.
1765. F. Home (title), An Inquiry into the nature, cause, and cure of the Croup.
1781. Mrs. Delany, Corr., 20 June.
1796. Hull Advertiser, 19 March, 2/4. Seven children have lately fallen victims at Highgate to a disorder called the croup.
1866. A. Flint, Princ. Med. (1880), 286. The term croup is applied to laryngitis with fibrinous exudation, and it has also been applied to simple laryngitis and to a non-inflammatory affection, namely, spasm of the glottis, occurring in children.
2. The local name of the Northumbrian ‘burr’ or utterance of r grasseyé, with the peculiar modification of pronunciation which it causes.
Mod. (Said by one Northumbrian of another at a Scotch fair) ‘That man is from the English side, he has the croup.’ (Scotch Shepherd) ‘Hoot na! it’s only the burr.’
3. Comb., as croup-like adj.
1799. T. Beddoes, Contrib. Phys. & Med. Knowl., 443. Breathing attended with such difficulty and croup-like noise, [etc.].
