syph en · NOUN
Etymology
Clipping of syphilis.
Meanings
-
(abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, slang, uncountable) Clipping of syphilis.
alt of syphilis
But since Brother Martin, alias Marty Randall, had caught the syph three times in two years, his attitude had changed.
1980, James Herbert, The Dark, Pan Books, published 1994, →ISBN, page 229: