lockjaw

[ lok-jaw ]
See synonyms for lockjaw on Thesaurus.com
nounPathology.
  1. tetanus in which the jaws become firmly locked together; trismus.

Origin of lockjaw

1
First recorded in 1795–1805; lock1 + jaw1

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use lockjaw in a sentence

  • He thought about things like lock-jaw and gangrene and his hand trembled as he tied his pocket-handkerchief around the wound.

    Time Enough at Last | Lyn Venable
  • “Very well,” I answered, jumping up and putting on my coat with a yawn which nearly gave me the lock-jaw.

    Hurricane Hurry | W.H.G. Kingston
  • I remember that the first time I tried to pronounce the name of the place I very nearly brought on lock-jaw.

  • In other industries such as wool sorting, blanket stoving and tentering, and warp dressing, lock-jaw is an incident.

  • You don't feel like you were going to have lock-jaw, do you, Mr. Culchard?

British Dictionary definitions for lockjaw

lockjaw

/ (ˈlɒkˌdʒɔː) /


noun
  1. pathol a nontechnical name for trismus, tetanus

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012