bovine spongiform encephalopathy

[spuhn-juh-fawrm] /ˈspʌn dʒəˌfɔrm/
1.
a fatal neurological disease of cattle, characterized by spongelike changes in the brain and thought to be caused by an infectious prion also implicated in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Abbreviation: BSE.
Also called mad cow disease.
Origin
1985-90
British Dictionary definitions for bovine spongiform encephalopathy

bovine spongiform encephalopathy

noun
1.
the full name for BSE
bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Medicine

bovine spongiform encephalopathy n.
An infectious degenerative brain disease occurring in cattle. Also called mad cow disease.

bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Science
bovine spongiform encephalopathy
  (spŭn'jĭ-fôrm')   
See mad cow disease.