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

See Examples For:

tenesmus

If the abstinence is continued for two or three days he has borborygmi, occasionally tenesmus.

From The Fijians A Study of the Decay of Custom by Basil Thomson

The stools are yellow, mushy, or greenish-yellow, stringy, mushy, with tenesmus.

From New, Old, and Forgotten Remedies: Papers by Many Writers by Edward Pollock Anshutz

The symptoms following such doses are colic, vomiting, bloody diarrhœa and tenesmus.

From The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines by Jerome Beers Thomas

Inflammation of the bladder is attended with tumor and pain of the lower part of the belly; with difficult and painful micturition; and tenesmus.

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

In other instances the bowel affection may be much more severe, giving rise to tenesmus, bloody stools, and the other phenomena of colitis.

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various