vaccination

/væksɪˈneɪʃɪn/

/væksɪˈneɪʃɪn/

Other forms: vaccinations

Vaccination is the act of getting a shot (a vaccine) to protect you against a certain disease. If you want to protect yourself from catching the mumps, you will need to undergo a vaccination.

If you've ever gotten a bad cut or stepped on rusty metal, your doctor has probably asked when you last had a Tetanus shot. A Tetanus shot is a vaccine, a protective dose of medicine that keeps you from getting sick. Some common vaccinations protect against the flu, measles, and whooping cough. The word vaccination comes from vaccine, "related to cows," because the first vaccines, developed to prevent smallpox, were made from a virus called cowpox.

Definitions of vaccination

1. noun

   taking a vaccine as a precaution against contracting a disease
   synonyms: inoculation

   type of:

   immunisation, immunization

   the act of making immune (especially by inoculation)
2. noun

   the scar left following inoculation with a vaccine
   type of:

   cicatrice, cicatrix, scar

   a mark left (usually on the skin) by the healing of injured tissue