tenesmus

American  

[tuh-nez-muhs, -nes-] / təˈnɛz məs, -ˈnɛs- /

noun

Pathology.

1. a straining to urinate or defecate, without the ability to do so.

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tenesmus British  

/ -ˈnɛs-, tɪˈnɛzməs /

noun

1. pathol an ineffective painful straining to empty the bowels in response to the sensation of a desire to defecate, without producing a significant quantity of faeces

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Other Word Forms

• tenesmic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of tenesmus

1520–30; < Medieval Latin, variant of Latin tēnesmos < Greek teinesmós, equivalent to teín ( ein ) to stretch + -esmos noun suffix

Example Sentences

Very soon the Gripes became more severe, attended with a Flatulency in the Bowels, and often with a Tenesmus.

From An Account of the Diseases which were most frequent in the British military hospitals in Germany by Monro, Donald

Tenesmus consists in violent and frequent ineffectual efforts to discharge the contents of the rectum, owing to pain of the sphincter.

From Zoonomia, Vol. II Or, the Laws of Organic Life by Darwin, Erasmus

Tenesmus, diarrhœa, the motions containing blood and mucus.

From Aids to Forensic Medicine and Toxicology by Robertson, W. G. Aitchison (William George Aitchison )

At first, this Medicine seemed to promise much, particularly in the Case of an old Invalid, William Brookes; who had been long ill of a Flux, attended with Gripes and a Tenesmus.

From An Account of the Diseases which were most frequent in the British military hospitals in Germany by Monro, Donald