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tetanus

te·ta·nus

UK/ˈtɛt.ən.əs/ US/ˈtɛt.ən.əs/ uncommon

noun

1.

an acute and serious infection of the central nervous system caused by bacterial infection of open wounds; spasms of the jaw and laryngeal muscles may occur during the late stages

Synonyms
2.

a sustained muscular contraction resulting from a rapid series of nerve impulses

Origin

From Latin tetanus, from Ancient Greek τέτανος (tétanos), from τείνω (teínō, “to stretch”).

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.