Lexic.us

Definition of Spasm

1. Noun. A painful and involuntary muscular contraction.

2. Noun. (pathology) sudden constriction of a hollow organ (as a blood vessel).

Definition of Spasm

1. n. An involuntary and unnatural contraction of one or more muscles or muscular fibers.

Definition of Spasm

1. Noun. A sudden, involuntary contraction of a muscle, a group of muscles, or a hollow organ. ¹

2. Noun. A violent, excruciating seizure of pain. ¹

3. Noun. A sudden and temporary burst of energy, activity, or emotion. ¹

4. Verb. To produce and undergo a spasm. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Spasm

1. to undergo an involuntary muscular contraction [v -ED, -ING, -S]

Medical Definition of Spasm

1. 1. A sudden, violent, involuntary contraction of a muscle or a group of muscles, attended by pain and interference with function, producing involuntary movement and distortion. 2. A sudden but transitory constriction of a passage, canal or orifice. Origin: L. Spasmus, Gr. Spasmos This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology (11 Mar 2008)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Spasm

sparteines sparth sparthe sparthes sparths sparticle sparticles spartina spartinas sparts

sparve spary spas spaser spasers spasm (current term) spasm band spasm bands spasm of accommodation spasmatic

spasmatical spasmed spasmic spasmin spasming spasmo- spasmocanulase spasmodic spasmodic asthma spasmodic dysmenorrhoea

Literary usage of Spasm

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Epilepsy and Other Chronic Convulsive Diseases: Their Causes, Symptoms, and by William Richard Gowers (1901)
"There is preponderant spasm in the depressors in these cases. Moreover, the fact shows that the dislocation is the result of the tonic spasm, ..."

2. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease by American Neurological Association, Philadelphia Neurological Society, Chicago Neurological Society, New York Neurological Association, Boston Society of Psychiatry and Neurology (1891)
"The force of the spasm was increased by mastication and closure of the jaw, and it was more active upon mental excitement. He was frequently aroused from ..."

3. Text-book of Ophthalmology by Ernst Fuchs (1911)
"CONJUGATE PARALYSIS AND spasm. Natures of these Anomalies.—Conjugate deviation, ie, the condition in which both eyes are deviated in the same direction, ..."

4. The Diseases of Infancy and Childhood: For the Use of Students and by Luther Emmett Holt (1902)
"Often it is the laryngeal spasm, rather than the inflammation, ... This spasm is only one expression of the great reflex irritability of young children. ..."

5. The Principles and Practice of Medicine: Designed for the Use of by William Osler (1912)
"For weeks there may be spasm, due perhaps to autosuggestion, ... The bougie, when passed, may be arrested temporarily at the seat of the spasm, ..."

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