lockjaw
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of lockjaw
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He was arrested in the early hours of 9 April in a car park near Stoke Mandeville Hospital, where he had gone to be treated for "lockjaw".
From BBC • Jun. 27, 2025
Stewart knew that taking on “Spencer” would be a challenge, and in the days leading up to the shoot, she even developed lockjaw as she ceaselessly practiced her British accent.
From New York Times • Nov. 5, 2021
In frame after frame Belichick comes across as something more than a sideline-prowling warlock with a severe case of lockjaw.
From The Guardian • Dec. 13, 2019
All this despite medical science’s proven successes in wiping out not only the much-feared smallpox and polio, but nearly eliminating other serious illnesses like diphtheria, German measles, lockjaw and mumps in the United States.
From Washington Times • Feb. 14, 2015
“You want lockjaw or typhoid or a combination?”
From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
