释义 |
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2024tet•a•nus /ˈtɛtənəs/USA pronunciation n. [uncountable]- Pathologya disease in which muscles, esp. of the lower jaw and neck, undergo spasms and then become stiff:Tetanus sometimes leads to paralysis of the muscles.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2024tet•a•nus (tet′n əs),USA pronunciation n. - Pathologyan 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, esp. those of the neck and lower jaw. Cf. lockjaw.
- MicrobiologyAlso called tet′anus bacil′lus. [Bacteriol.]the bacterium, Clostridium tetani, causing this disease.
- [Physiol.]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.
- Latin, as above
- Greek tétanos spasm (of muscles), tetanus; replacing Middle English tetane
- Latin
- 1350–1400
tet′a•nal, adj. tet′a•noid′, adj. |