Hypertext Webster Gateway: "paroxysm"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Paroxysm \Par"ox*ysm\, n. [F. paroxysme, Gr. ?, fr. ? to
sharpen, irritate; ? beside, beyond + ? to sharpen, from ?
sharp.]
1. (Med.) The fit, attack, or exacerbation, of a disease that
occurs at intervals, or has decided remissions or
intermissions. --Arbuthnot.
2. Any sudden and violent emotion; spasmodic passion or
action; a convulsion; a fit.
The returning paroxysms of diffidence and despair.
--South.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
paroxysm
n : a sudden uncontrollable attack; "a paroxysm of giggling"; "a
fit of coughing" [syn: {fit}]
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