rash

Universal Words noun, adjective noun 1 [C,usually sing.] an area of red spots on a person's skin, caused by an illness or a reaction to sth: I woke up covered in a rash. * I come out in a rash (= a rash appears on my skin) if I eat chocolate. * The sun brought her out in (= caused) an itchy rash. * a heat rash (= caused by heat) compareSPOT 2 [sing.] ~ (of sth) a lot of sth; a series of unpleasant things that happen over a short period of time SYNSPATE: a rash of movies about life in prison * Rising prices are the result of the recent rash of strikes in the steel industry. * There has been a rash of burglaries in the area over the last month. adjective ~ (to do sth) (of people or their actions) doing sth that may not be sensible without first thinking about the possible results; done in this way: a rash young man * It would be rash to assume that everyone will agree with you on this. * Think twice before doing anything rash. * This is what happens when you make rash decisions. rashly adverb: She had rashly promised to lend him the money. * I see now that I may have acted rashly. rashness noun [U]: He bitterly regretted his rashness.