1. Plural of cowpox; a viral disease of cattle that can be transmitted to humans, historically used in vaccination against smallpox.
Usage: medical/historical; usually used in plural or as uncountable in singular form

Examples

• Cowpoxes were documented in dairy workers who milked infected cattle.
• Edward Jenner's experiments with cowpoxes led to the development of the first smallpox vaccine.
• The virus that causes cowpoxes is related to the smallpox pathogen.
• Historically, exposure to cowpoxes provided immunity against the more dangerous smallpox disease.
• Modern medical archives contain detailed records of cowpoxes outbreaks in 18th-century England.