Hypertext Webster Gateway: "tetanus"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Tetanus \Tet"a*nus\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ?, fr. ? stretched, ? to
stretch.]
1. (Med.) A painful and usually fatal disease, resulting
generally from a wound, and having as its principal
symptom persistent spasm of the voluntary muscles. When
the muscles of the lower jaw are affected, it is called
{locked-jaw}, or {lickjaw}, and it takes various names
from the various incurvations of the body resulting from
the spasm.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
tetanus
n 1: an acute and serious infection of the central nervous system
caused by bacterial infection of open wounds; spasms of
the jaw and laryngeal muscles may occur during the late
stages [syn: {lockjaw}]
2: a sustained muscular contraction resulting from a rapid
series of nerve impulses
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