Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
noun
A serious and often fatal disease caused by the infection of an open wound with the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium tetani, found in soil and the intestines and faeces of animals.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
Topics: medicine, pathology, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: lockjaw
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A state of muscle tension caused by sustained contraction arising from a rapid series of nerve impulses which do not allow the muscle to relax.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, usually
Topics: medicine, physiology, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
a sustained muscular contraction resulting from a rapid series of nerve impulses
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: contraction, muscular contraction, muscle contraction
noun
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
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: lockjaw
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: infection
History
From Latin tetanus, from Ancient Greek τέτανος (tétanos), from τείνω (teínō, “to stretch”).
Across languages
118 source translations are retained for this English entry.
