WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Tet"a*nus
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [L., fr. Gr.
Definition : 1. (Med.)

Defn: 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.

2. (Physiol.)

Defn: That condition of a muscle in which it is in a state of continued vibratory contraction, as when stimulated by a series of induction shocks.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913