- 1[countable, usually singular] an area of red spots on a person's skin, caused by an illness or a reaction to something I woke up covered in a rash. I break 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) compare spot see diaper rash
- 2[singular] rash (of something) a lot of something; a series of unpleasant things that happen over a short period of time synonym spate 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.
Check pronunciation: rash