spasm
A sudden, involuntary contraction of a muscle, a group of muscles, or a hollow organA sudden, involuntary contraction of a muscle, a group of muscles, or a hollow organ.
Recorded US: Sylvanmoon, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
» Hiccups are caused by spasms of the diaphragm.
AlanF_US · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
3 sensesA sudden, involuntary contraction of a muscle, a group of muscles, or a hollow organ.
Jessica went into spasms after eating a peanut.
Krampf, Muskelkrampf, Spasmus
спазмspazm
(pathology) sudden constriction of a hollow organ (as a blood vessel)
A violent, excruciating seizure of pain.
A sudden and temporary burst of energy, activity, or emotion.
Anfall
Examples
4 sentencesHiccups are caused by spasms of the diaphragm.
I feel a sort of spasm in my left leg.
A spasm, violent and uncontrollable, stiffened every muscle in his body.
Around age six, the twins started taking a drug called L-DOPA, which dramatically lessened their muscle spasms and other symptoms.
Translations
8 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 2
Origin
From Middle English spasme, from Old French spasme, from Latin spasmus, from Ancient GreekFrom Middle English spasme, from Old French spasme, from Latin spasmus, from Ancient Greek σπασμός (spasmós, “spasm, convulsion”), from σπάω (spáō, “to draw out, pull out”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: spasmsSynonyms
2 synonyms- a painful and involuntary muscular contraction:crampmuscle spasm
Word family
35 related wordsSee also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.