Hypertext Webster Gateway: "irritability"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Irritability \Ir`ri*ta*bil"i*ty\, n. [L. irritabilitas: cf. F.
irritabilit['e].]
1. The state or quality of being irritable; quick
excitability; petulance; fretfulness; as, irritability of
temper.
2. (Physiol.) A natural susceptibility, characteristic of all
living organisms, tissues, and cells, to the influence of
certain stimuli, response being manifested in a variety of
ways, -- as that quality in plants by which they exhibit
motion under suitable stimulation; esp., the property
which living muscle processes, of responding either to a
direct stimulus of its substance, or to the stimulating
influence of its nerve fibers, the response being
indicated by a change of form, or contraction;
contractility.
3. (Med.) A condition of morbid excitability of an organ or
part of the body; undue susceptibility to the influence of
stimuli. See {Irritation}, n., 3.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
irritability
n 1: an irritable petulant feeling [syn: {crossness}, {fretfulness},
{fussiness}, {peevishness}, {petulance}, {choler}]
2: excessive sensitivity of an organ or body part [syn: {excitability}]
3: a disposition to exhibit uncontrolled anger; "his temper was
well known to all his employees" [syn: {temper}, {biliousness},
{peevishness}, {pettishness}, {snappishness}, {surliness}]
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