Definitions for tetanus
tetanus
tet·a·nus
Spelling: [tet-n-uh s]
IPA: /ˈtɛt n əs/
Tetanus is a 7 letter English word.
It's valid Scrabble word worth 7 points.
It's valid Words with friends word worth 9 points.
You can make 187 anagrams from letters in tetanus (aensttu).
Definitions for tetanus
noun
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Pathology. an infectious, often fatal disease caused by a specific bacterium that enters the body through wounds and characterized by respiratory paralysis and tonic spasms and rigidity of the voluntary muscles, especially those of the neck and lower jaw.
Compare lockjaw.
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Also called tetanus bacillus. Bacteriology. the bacterium, Clostridium tetani, causing this disease.
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Physiology. a state of sustained contraction of a muscle during which the muscle does not relax to its initial length or tension, induced by a rapid succession of stimuli.
Origin of tetanus
1350-1400; Latin Greek tétanos spasm (of muscles), tetanus; replacing Middle English tetane Latin, as above