spasm
spasm
Definition
spasm (spaz′əm)
noun
- a sudden, convulsive, involuntary muscular contraction: a tonic spasm is persistent and sustained, and a clonic spasm is one of a series of relatively brief contractions alternating with relaxations
- any sudden, violent, temporary activity, feeling, etc.
Etymology: ME spasme < MFr < L spasmus < Gr spasmos < span, to draw, pull, wrench: see span
intransitive verb
to undergo a spasm
spasm
Synonyms
spasm
Usage Examples
Preposition: of
- artery: Less common causes include spasms of the coronary arteries or disease of the smaller branches of these arteries.
- muscle: For instance, spasm of muscles may give rise to writer's or musician's cramp.
- pain: And then: It was like a short spasm of pain.
Converse of object
- relieve: It works quickly at relieving spasms, often quicker than conventional pain relief.
- relax: It makes breathing easier by relaxing muscle spasms in the air passages of the lungs.
- reduce: Paul, how do you reduce the spasm in your son's legs?
- treat: Baclofen is used by intrathecal pump to treat the painful spasms of cerebral palsy.
- prevent: A larger dose is sometimes given at night to prevent spasms that interfere with sleep.
- suffer: As a result of this brain damage, Mrs A suffered severe muscle spasms and her teeth were permanently clenched.
Preposition: in
- muscle: Assessment There was spasm in the suspensory muscles of the larynx.
Adjective modifier
- infantile: Early treatment of infantile spasm might preserve cognitive functioning in some children.
- hemifacial: For unknown reasons hemifacial spasm tends to affect the left side of the face more often than the right.
- involuntary: These involuntary spasms of the vocal cords cause the voice to change in quality.
- muscular: In addition to increased muscle tone, there are episodic muscular spasms.
- laryngeal: The reason is that under halothane alone laryngeal spasm often occurs.
- uncontrollable: Between bites I was overcome by uncontrollable spasms of laughter.
Noun used with modifier
- muscle: Muscle spasm in the thoracic region can cause referred pain to radiate into the chest or abdomen.
- bladder: An impacted sigmoid colon or rectum can give rise to bladder spasms which obstruct free drainage of urine.
- tonic: Tonic spasms may develop at 3 - 4 months.
- vessel: Patients who develop the condition almost always suffer from Raynaud's phenomenon ( blood vessel spasm triggered by cold weather ) first.
spasm Quotes
If you carry this resolution, you will send a Foreign Secretaryöwhoever he may beönaked into the conference chamber.You call that statesmanship. I call it an emotional spasm.
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