hypothermia

/ˈhaɪpəˌθɛrmiə/

/haɪpəˈθʌmiə/

Hypothermia is when your body temperature gets dangerously low, so low that you could seriously hurt yourself or die.

Ever heard of a polar bear plunge? During winter, people jump into the ocean to raise money for a charity. They don’t stay in there long, and if they did, they’d definitely get hypothermia because the water’s so cold. The word is a combination of the prefix hypo-, meaning “below,” and the Greek word thermē, translated as “heat.” When your body heat gets below what it should be, please put on a sweater or you’ll get hypothermia and maybe die.

Definitions of hypothermia

1. noun

   subnormal body temperature
   antonyms:

   hyperthermia

   abnormally high body temperature; sometimes induced (as in treating some forms of cancer)

   type of:

   physical condition, physiological condition, physiological state

   the condition or state of the body or bodily functions