adjective
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of, relating to, or of the nature of paralysis
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afflicted with or subject to paralysis
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informal very drunk
noun
Other Word Forms
- nonparalytic adjective
- paralytically adverb
- postparalytic adjective
- semiparalytic noun
- subparalytic adjective
Etymology
Origin of paralytic
1300–50; Middle English paralitik < Latin paralyticus < Greek paralytikós, equivalent to paraly- ( paralysis ) + -tikos -tic
Vocabulary lists containing paralytic
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.
No associated paralytic cases have been recorded so far.
From BBC • Jul. 23, 2024
After an outbreak of paralytic shellfish poisoning that has sickened about 20 people, the Oregon Health Authority is urging people to discard mussels harvested from a stretch of the coast since Saturday.
From Seattle Times • May 29, 2024
"We find paralytic shellfish toxins in our shellfish pretty much year-round at this point."
From Science Daily • Mar. 21, 2024
There’s all sorts of interpretations about what actually happens after the paralytic.
From Slate • Feb. 1, 2024
They told us that a blod clot had formed on my mother’s brain and that another paralytic stroke had set in.
From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright
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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.