Tetanus is a serious painful disease caused by bacteria getting into wounds. It makes your muscles, especially your jaw muscles, go stiff.
tetanus in British English
(ˈtɛtənəs)
noun
1. Also called: lockjaw
an acute infectious disease in which sustained muscular spasm, contraction, and convulsion are caused by the release of exotoxins from the bacterium, Clostridium tetani: infection usually occurs through a contaminated wound
2. physiology
any tense contraction of a muscle, esp when produced by electric shocks
Derived forms
tetanal (ˈtetanal)
adjective
tetanoid (ˈtetaˌnoid)
adjective
Word origin
C16: via Latin from Greek tetanos, from tetanos taut, from teinein to stretch
tetanus in American English
(ˈtɛtənəs; ˈtɛtnəs)
noun
1.
an acute infectious disease, often fatal, caused by the specific toxin of a bacillus (Clostridium tetani) which usually enters the body through wounds: it is characterized by spasmodic contractions and rigidity of some or all of the voluntary muscles, esp. of the jaw, face, and neck; lockjaw
2. Physiology
the state of continuous contraction of a muscle, esp. when caused experimentally by a series of rapidly repeated stimuli
Word origin
L < Gr tetanos, spasm (of muscles), lit., stretched < base of teinein: see thin
Examples of 'tetanus' in a sentence
tetanus
Mum and Dad made me promise not to go exploring back there, because there were too many sharp things, and tetanus and such.
Neil Gaiman CORALINE (2002)
Word lists with
tetanus
Human diseases
In other languages
tetanus
British English: tetanus /ˈtɛtənəs/ NOUN
Tetanus is a serious painful disease caused by bacteria getting into wounds. It makes your muscles, especially your jaw muscles, go stiff.