"feed a cold, starve a fever" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "An old wives' tale that dates back to 1574 from the original \"Fasting is a great remedie of fever.\"",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "proverb"
      },
      "expansion": "feed a cold, starve a fever",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English proverbs",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Japanese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Pseudoscience",
          "orig": "en:Pseudoscience",
          "parents": [
            "Sciences",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1887, J. H. Whelan, “The Treatment of Colds,”, in The Practitioner, volume 38, page 180:",
          "text": "\"Feed a cold, starve a fever.\" There is a deal of wisdom in the first part of this advice. A person with a catarrh should take an abundance of light nutritious food, and some light wine, but avoid spirits, and above all tobacco.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1968, Katinka Loeser, The Archers at Home, New York: Atheneum, page 60:",
          "text": "I have a cold. 'Feed a cold, starve a fever.' You certainly know that.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009, Shelly Reuben, Tabula Rasa, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 60:",
          "text": "They say feed a cold, starve a fever, but they don't tell you what to do when you got both, so I figured scrambled eggs, tea, and toast.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Expressing the common belief that eating more will cure the common cold, and eating less will cure a fever."
      ],
      "id": "en-feed_a_cold,_starve_a_fever-en-proverb-b4O6urgI",
      "links": [
        [
          "common cold",
          "common cold#English"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "proverb expressing the belief that eating more cures a cold while eating less cures a fever",
          "word": "nourrir un rhume et affamer une fièvre"
        },
        {
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "kaze ni wa taishoku, netsu ni wa zesshoku",
          "sense": "proverb expressing the belief that eating more cures a cold while eating less cures a fever",
          "word": "風邪には大食, 熱には絶食"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "feed a cold, starve a fever"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "An old wives' tale that dates back to 1574 from the original \"Fasting is a great remedie of fever.\"",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "proverb"
      },
      "expansion": "feed a cold, starve a fever",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English proverbs",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Terms with French translations",
        "Terms with Japanese translations",
        "en:Pseudoscience"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1887, J. H. Whelan, “The Treatment of Colds,”, in The Practitioner, volume 38, page 180:",
          "text": "\"Feed a cold, starve a fever.\" There is a deal of wisdom in the first part of this advice. A person with a catarrh should take an abundance of light nutritious food, and some light wine, but avoid spirits, and above all tobacco.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1968, Katinka Loeser, The Archers at Home, New York: Atheneum, page 60:",
          "text": "I have a cold. 'Feed a cold, starve a fever.' You certainly know that.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009, Shelly Reuben, Tabula Rasa, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 60:",
          "text": "They say feed a cold, starve a fever, but they don't tell you what to do when you got both, so I figured scrambled eggs, tea, and toast.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Expressing the common belief that eating more will cure the common cold, and eating less will cure a fever."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "common cold",
          "common cold#English"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "proverb expressing the belief that eating more cures a cold while eating less cures a fever",
      "word": "nourrir un rhume et affamer une fièvre"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "kaze ni wa taishoku, netsu ni wa zesshoku",
      "sense": "proverb expressing the belief that eating more cures a cold while eating less cures a fever",
      "word": "風邪には大食, 熱には絶食"
    }
  ],
  "word": "feed a cold, starve a fever"
}