# hardware disease

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. Traumatic gastrointestinal puncture and infection in ruminants (especially cattle) and birds that ingest a sharp object (in livestock usually a metal object such as wire or a fastener); in cattle it usually includes reticuloperitonitis and thus in practice is usually metonymically synonymous with traumatic reticuloperitonitis.

## Etymology
From the fact that in cattle it is usually caused by hardware such as a piece of wire or a fastener (e.g., fence wire, nail, screw).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/hardware-disease