tetanus
A serious and often fatal disease caused by the infection of an open wound with the…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.
» Have you had a tetanus shot?
Meaning
2 senses(uncountable, usually)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.
Tetanus, Wundstarrkrampf
столбня́кstolbnják
праве́цьpravécʹ
(countable, usually)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.
a sustained muscular contraction resulting from a rapid series of nerve impulses
Examples
22 sentencesHave you had a tetanus shot?
Have you had your tetanus shot?
Have you had a tetanus booster?
When was the last time you had a tetanus shot?
I'm pretty sure I had a tetanus shot.
Translations
9 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
From Latin tetanus, from Ancient Greek τέτανος (tétanos), from τείνω (teínō, “to stretch”)From Latin tetanus, from Ancient Greek τέτανος (tétanos), from τείνω (teínō, “to stretch”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: tetani / tetanusesSynonyms
1 synonymsWord family
10 related wordsLessons for this word
2 lessons- A1Plural nouns — Because its plural is irregular
- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable